In a 2-1 vote last week, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved a liquified natural gas (LNG) export facility in a region of Louisiana that’s becoming a hotspot for gas export sites.

On June 27, 2024, FERC commissioners Willie Phillips and Mark Christie voted to issue an order authorizing the construction and operation of the CP2 LNG Terminal and associated CP Express Pipeline Project. The CP2 LNG Terminal would be located on Monkey Island, directly east of Venture Global's Calcasieu Pass LNG Terminal in Cameron Parish, Louisiana. The CP Express Project would consist of two pipelines: the 85-mile-long CP Express Pipeline and the 6-mile-long Enable Gulf Run Lateral, which would connect to the proposed CP2 LNG Terminal.

FERC Commissioner Allison Clements was the lone no vote, arguing in her dissent that FERC’s order “fails to meaningfully assess the project’s enormous greenhouse gas emissions” and that its analysis of cumulative air pollution from CP2 and other facilities was “deficient.” The order also “improperly discounts impacts to commercial fishing businesses, which will likely be significant,” as well as failing to adequately consider how it would affect nearby environmental justice communities,” Clements wrote.