Shrimpers, fishermen, and climate and environmental justice advocates took to the water outside a liquefied methane industry gathering in Lake Charles, Louisiana, to call attention to the dangers posed to their communities, livelihoods, and the climate by the expansion and construction of LNG export facilities on the Gulf of Mexico. Gas exports from the Gulf have exploded (sometimes literally) since the lifting of the 2015 export ban, with the U.S. becoming the world’s largest liquified methane exporter in just seven years.
“It’s sad that we’re getting this shoved down our throat. It’s wrong,” Jimmy Dison, a lifelong Cameron resident and shrimper, told the American Press. The gas export infrastructure buildout, including dredging and water pollution, inflicts adverse and long-lasting impacts on those who rely upon the natural environment to earn their living. “This is way more catastrophic than any hurricane,” because once concrete pads are poured in wetlands, they are there to stay, Travis Dardar, an Indigenous fisherman and shrimper from Cameron told the American Press.
“What happens in Lake Charles in the next four years will determine what happens to the world in the next 40,” said James Hiatt, a former oil and gas worker and current Southwest Louisiana Coordinator with the Louisiana Bucket Brigade. “By building more export terminals, these industries destroy our homes, raise our energy bills by exporting our gas and forcing countries to compete for limited supply, and lock us into decades of fossil fuel dependence. It’s time to choose a different future for Lake Charles and the world.” (American Press, The Lens, KSLA)