Feds advance contentious gas export terminal CP2

A panel of federal regulators on Thursday authorized the construction of a major natural gas export project — moving the contentious CP2 terminal one step closer to final approval. 

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved the Louisiana terminal, which could export large amounts of U.S.-produced gas. 

Two commissioners, one Democrat and one Republican, supported the project, while another Democrat opposed it. 

The CP2 terminal is not yet fully authorized; though FERC’s approval clears a major hurdle for the project, it still needs permission from the Department of Energy to ship natural gas abroad to countries that don’t have a free trade agreement with the U.S. The vast majority of U.S. gas exports, more than 80 percent, go to non-free-trade-agreement countries. 

FERC is an independent and bipartisan panel of energy regulators, and while its decisions can be political, this move is not as tied to the Biden administration as the forthcoming Energy Department decision would be.

The Democrat who opposed the CP2 project, Allison Clements, said that the commission “has not adequately addressed the project’s environmental and socioeconomic impacts.”

However, FERC Chairman Willie Phillips, the Democrat who supported the terminal said commission staff confirmed with Venture Global, the company behind the project, that its emissions would be in compliance with Environmental Protection Agency standards. 

The Biden administration, which has temporarily stopped approving some natural gas export projects, now faces a controversial choice.

Mahyar Sorour, director of Beyond Fossil Fuels policy at the Sierra Club, said that the project’s approval would both “perpetuate the climate crisis” and be “hugely detrimental for the communities who are already overburdened with air pollution.”

Gas exports have come under significant scrutiny from climate advocates and the progressive left in general. These opponents argue that in shipping natural gas abroad, the U.S. is spreading the use of the planet-warming fuel and exacerbating climate change.

Sorour added, in a conversation before the FERC approval, that the Biden administration ought not to approve the project. 

“We believe … taking into consideration the economic, the climate and the environmental justice costs of CP2, that they would come to the same determination that we have, which is that they shouldn’t get DOE approval,” she said.

Supporters of the project and others like it argue, however, that sending more U.S. gas abroad will reduce foreign dependence on other countries including Russia for natural gas.

They also argue that increasing the global gas supply could reduce reliance on even dirtier fuels like coal.

“Venture Global applauds the Commission and FERC staff for their independent and thorough review and approval of CP2 LNG,” said Mike Sabel, the company’s CEO, in a written statement. 

 “We look forward to a swift non-[free trade agreement] approval from the U.S. Department of Energy for this project that is critical to both global and national security,” Sabel said. 

The Biden administration announced in January that it would pause new approvals of terminals that would ship gas to countries with which the U.S. doesn’t have a free trade agreement. The pause comes as the Energy Department reconsiders its approval criteria for these infrastructure projects. It does not affect existing gas exports. 

Updated at 1:23 p.m. EDT