On Louisiana’s disappearing coast, a natural gas terminal is poised to become the largest in the US
The Army Corps of Engineers granted Plaquemines LNG expedited permitting under Trump's declared 'national energy emergency,' cutting the public comment period from 30 days to 10 for an $18 billion expansion that would more than double the terminal's footprint to about 1,220 acres. Owner Venture Global says the expansion would make it the largest LNG export terminal in North America.
The Army Corps estimates the project could damage up to 470 acres of wetlands and river bottoms in Plaquemines Parish, which has already lost more than 250 square miles of land over 60 years and could lose half its remaining land in the next 50, per state projections. The terminal is already permitted to emit about 8.1 million tons of greenhouse gases annually, second only to one ammonia plant among Louisiana's industrial polluters.
Most of the terminal's gas exports last year went to Europe, with Germany taking the largest share, prompting critics to question how shipping gas overseas serves the stated goal of domestic energy independence. Republican Rep. Steve Scalise toured the site in April and praised it as the world's largest LNG export facility, built on what he called a former cow pasture.
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