"Two liquefied natural gas terminals under development at the tip of Texas’ Gulf Coast could either lift low-income residents out of poverty or destroy local fishing and tourism economies, depending on whom you ask.
The disparate views on the planned LNG projects — Rio Grande LNG from Houston-based NextDecade and the independently owned Texas LNG — underscore a tension for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and Chair Richard Glick’s recent pivot to address environmental justice: How should FERC determine whether the costs of a proposed project outweigh its benefits? Under what circumstances should projects in disadvantaged communities be approved or denied? And will FERC’s decisions survive legal scrutiny?
FERC greenlighted the two LNG projects, which are slated to be built in the majority Latino region of Cameron County, Texas, in the fall of 2019. At the time, then-Chair Neil Chatterjee, a Republican, touted the projects as a win for the climate and U.S. foreign policy.
“The Commission has now completed its work on applications for 11 LNG export projects in the past nine months, helping the United States expand the availability of natural gas for our global allies who need access to an efficient, affordable and environmentally friendly fuel for power generation,” he said in a statement at the time."
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