It was a hot July day in the financial district of lower Manhattan. Activists: grandparents, teachers, concerned scientists and citizens alike, were milling about the park while organizers took group photos, handed out signs and supplies, and ironed out the remaining details of the protest. This was to be one of the largest actions of the Summer of Heat on Wall Street’s non-violent, civil disobedience campaign. We were gathered in solidarity with activists from the Gulf South to protest the financial giants: Citi Bank, Blackrock Private Equity, and the insurance agencies that underwrite the expansion of Liquified Natural Gas terminals and storage facilities (LNGs) in Texas and Louisiana.
The line in the fossil fuel industry’s propaganda on Natural Gas is that it is a ‘transition fuel’ or a ‘clean alternative’ to coal or oil. While it is certainly less polluting than the infamous coal, it cannot be our solution to the climate crisis. For starters, natural gas is literally methane, a greenhouse gas (GHG) that is 80 times stronger than carbon dioxide over a twenty-year period. This means that it traps heat on Earth 80 times more effectively than carbon dioxide. Secondly, the fossil energy sector has lied with its numbers in their claims that natural gas is ‘clean’. While it is a scientific fact that natural gas releases less harmful pollutants than carbon in its final use, its lifecycle emissions are on par with both coal and oil when one considers the pollutants released during its acquisition, transport, and final use. This has dire consequences for the local ecologies, human health, and ultimately the climate crisis.
Regardless, in the United States, we have seen a gross expansion of the natural gas industry. The Gulf states offer a harrowing example. Along the coasts of Texas and Louisiana, the fossil fuel industry has built Liquefied Natural Gas export terminals and storage facilities (hereby referred to as LNGs). The LNG terminals produce harmful pollutants including nitrous oxides, sulfuric compounds, and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). A University of Montana report found that existing LNGs produce:
‘“criteria air pollutants,” including 10,382 tons of nitrogen oxides and 1,699 tons of particulate matter annually, with carrier vessels adding 10% more criteria air pollutants on top of those
◦ major sources of CAA-designated “hazardous air pollutants,” collectively emitting 264 tons per year of substances including formaldehyde, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene, which are known carcinogens and respiratory, neuro-, organ, and reproductive toxins that are likely to have synergistic health effects’ (UofM 18).
These numbers fail to account for all accidents and leaks, nor do they offer a comprehensive life cycle assessment. The actual numbers are higher than reported. An analysis by the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, an advocacy group for the local fishing industry, found that Sabine Pass LNG in Cameron, LA between June 2022 and August of that same year released: 23,614.36 lbs of Methane, 3,608.92 lbs of Benzenes, and 696.53 lbs of VOCs due to accidents. (LABB 6). Furthermore, they found that ‘Emissions from venting and flaring can double the actual GHG associated with liquification’ (LABB 11). This results in diminished air quality that poses a significant health risk to the surrounding communities.
All the statistics in the world cannot convey the toll of human suffering that LNGs exact. Each year an average of 19 deaths are directly associated with effluent from the terminals in Cameron Parish, Louisiana alone. While we blockaded the doors at Citi Bank’s headquarters, Gulf South residents shared their stories. Each of them had had a family member diagnosed with cancer. One woman had six kids and half of them had asthma like herself. One had even suffered from seizures. All of these ailments are directly linked to the air pollutants emitted from the LNGs.
In January of 2024, the Biden administration put a pause on LNG export to countries outside of the Fair Trade Agreement (FTA), halted the permitting of new LNG terminals, and ordered a survey of the environmental and economic impacts on the local communities and beyond. The report was released in December of 2024, and it contained damning evidence that proves what environmental activists have been saying for over a decade: these LNG ports put an undue burden on the surrounding communities and the globe. Furthermore, the Department of Energy (DOE) report found that the proposed expansions would raise costs for domestic consumers across all models. However, on day one, the Trump administration has reversed former-President Biden’s decision: Exports will now continue unabated.
So what can we do?
First off, we can amplify the stories of marginalized communities that are living in these sacrifice zones.
Secondly, in Europe and China, we can pressure leaders to transition to renewable energy sources and to boycott US natural gas.
And thirdly, here in the US we can protest natural gas infrastructure expansions (ie pipelines etc), support electrification initiatives, and ban hydraulic fracking.
Together we can achieve justice for the community members in the Gulf South, protect vulnerable wetland ecologies, and slow global warming.
Works Cited
Saha, Robin K.; Bullard, Robert D.; and Powers, Liza T., "Liquefying the Gulf Coast: A Cumulative Impact Assessment of LNG Buildout in Louisiana and Texas" (2024). Environmental Studies Faculty Publications. 12.
“U.S. Department of Energy Completes LNG Study Update, Announces 60-Day Comment Period.” Energy.gov, www.energy.gov/articles/us-department-energy-completes-lng-study-update-announces-60-day-comment-period.
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