NEW ORLEANS — NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A Louisiana judge has tossed out a key permit for a liquefied natural gas facility that won approval from President Donald Trump’s administration, ordering a state review of how the facility’s planet-warming emissions would affect Gulf Coast communities vulnerable to sea-level rise and extreme weather.
Last week, a judge from Louisiana’s 38th Judicial District Court effectively halted construction of Commonwealth LNG by ordering state regulators to analyze the facility’s climate change and environmental justice-related impacts, in conjunction with the broader LNG buildout in southwest Louisiana’s Cameron Parish.
Three of the nation’s eight existing LNG export terminals are located in Cameron Parish, and several more are proposed or under construction there.
Louisiana’s attorney general vowed to appeal the ruling, which vacated the Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy’s coastal use permit for the facility.
“This is the first time any court has vacated a permit for an LNG facility based on the government’s refusal to consider climate change impacts,” said Clay Garside, an attorney representing the Sierra Club and other environmental groups.
Earlier this year, Trump reversed a Biden-era pause on exports of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, as part of his goal to boost natural gas exports and promote “energy dominance.”
Last year, the Biden administration’s Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm’s had warned that “unfettered exports” of liquefied natural gas would increase planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions — a statement reflecting the findings of a Department of Energy report released in December.
Trump-appointed Energy Secretary Chris Wright, a fossil fuel executive, has moved to fast-track the buildout of LNG facilities, including Commonwealth LNG, which received an export authorization within weeks of Trump’s inauguration.
“Cameron Parish is ground zero for the relentless expansion of the gas export industry,” said Anne Rolfes, founder of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, an environmental group involved in the litigation. “We’re going to stop it and this