One of the world’s biggest sources of energy, thought to be a replacement for coal, might be even worse for the environment than the energy sources it wants to replace and could be responsible for heating the planet faster than other known polluters.
New research from Cornell University shows liquefied natural gas, known as LNG, has an even bigger impact on climate change than burning coal.
“A broader conclusion is the need to move away from any use of LNG as a fuel as quickly as possible, and to immediately stop construction of any new LNG infrastructure,” wrote Robert Howarth, the author of the analysis.
The findings have major implications for global climate goals and for the United States, which became the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas earlier this year.
LNG exports were banned until 2016, and now, more than 60 members of Congress are urging the Department of Energy to reconsider shipping the fossil fuel abroad.
In a letter to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon and 64 other Democrats wrote they’re “concerned” the department’s decisions to approve every LNG project are “inconsistent with the latest climate science.”
Get Tri-state area news delivered to your inbox. Sign up for NBC New York's News Headlines newsletter.
The letter also raised concerns about CP2 LNG, a project in Southwest Louisiana that would be the single largest export facility in the U.S., which would allow American exports of liquefied natural gas to increase by as much as 20%.
“The thing about it is there's nothing natural about LNG,” said Roishetta Sibley Ozane, the founder of the Vessel Project of Louisiana, a group fighting to stop gas expansion on the Gulf Coast. Ozane lives a few miles from Cameron, Louisiana where Venture Global hopes to expand its existing LNG facility.
Ozane and her volunteers have already collected more than 100,000 signatures to stop the approval of CP2, and she plans to personally deliver the petition to the Department of Energy in Washington.
“I'm doing this as a mom and as a grandmother, and that's who I'm fighting for,” Ozane emphasized. “If this project is built, its impacts will be felt throughout the world.”
However, Venture Global LNG contended that the CP2 expansion would actually offset emissions from coal power plants, projecting a global decrease in emissions of 140 million tons per year. The company said it will also directly capture a portion of the carbon emissions on-site in Louisiana.
“American LNG is the best weapon in our arsenal to quickly displace global coal use and combat climate change,” Venture Global Spokeswoman Shaylyn Hynes said in a statement to NBC.
Nevertheless, Howarth claims short-term energy needs are better met by reopening closed coal facilities temporarily, instead of expanding LNG use.
Howarth's assertion is based on the repeated methane emissions throughout the lifecycle of natural gas — from drilling and fracking, to liquefying, shipping, and eventually burning the gas.
According to Howarth, even in the most sophisticated systems, methane is leaked or directly emitted at virtually every step, and over a 20-year span, methane is 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide — heating the atmosphere much more quickly.
“The scale of it is off the charts,” said Bill McKibben, journalist and founder of climate action group Third Act. “We have to get off fossil fuel and leave this stuff in the ground. That’s what the scientists keep telling us.”
McKibben, who advocates for a full embrace of green energy, both as a journalist and because of his faith, said we should instead focus on capturing the full power of the sun instead of burning fossil fuels.
“The good Lord was kind enough to hang a large ball of burning gas 93 million miles up in the sky. We now know how to make absolutely full use of it, so we should give up on energy from hell and substitute energy from heaven.”
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, an independent agency under the Department of Energy, is set to make a final decision on CP2 as soon as December 19th.
The Department of Energy did not immediately respond to a request for comment by NBC.
“What's happening here in Southwest Louisiana, along the Gulf Coast directly impacts everyone,” adds Sibley Ozane, emphasizing concerns of environmental justice amid the rapid expansion of LNG. “We have to save this Earth. We only get one.”
