((Automated translation by Reuters, please see disclaimer https://bit.ly/rtrsauto))
(Adds details on project and environmental objections)
Federal regulators on Thursday approved a liquefied natural gas project in Louisiana that has been a lightning rod for environmental advocates and a litmus test for the Biden administration’s energy policies.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission voted 2-1 to authorize the construction and operation of the Calcasieu Pass 2 LNG plant and a related 85-mile-long gas pipeline.
Venture Global LNG’s proposed multibillion-dollar export plant would supply 20 million metric tons per year of super-chilled gas to customers in Europe, Japan and China, as well as U.S. exporters. Venture Global was not immediately available for comment.
The project has drawn the wrath of environmentalists who say it would perpetuate the use of fossil fuels contributing to global warming and emitting tons of pollution in surrounding communities.
FERC’s approval allows Reston, Virginia-based Venture Global LNG to become the second-largest U.S. LNG exporter, behind Cheniere Energy LNG.N . The company has two plants operating or under development in Louisiana and aims to build 100 million tons of LNG capacity in the future.
The plant is the first to obtain construction approval since President Joe Biden’s administration in January suspended the granting of future LNG export permits to review economic and environmental implications. This review is expected to conclude after the US presidential election in November.
Environmental activist Bill McKibben called FERC’s approval a travesty of science and environmental justice and said it was granted in the middle of the hottest summer in human history.
“This underscores how crucial and courageous Mr. Biden’s decision to suspend new permitting may prove to be. It is now the only defense against the indefensible,” said Mr. McKibben, who is also Schumann Distinguished Scholar at Middlebury College.
