A federal appeals court in Washington appears unlikely to block federal authorizations to construct and operate a massive liquefied natural gas terminal in southwestern Louisiana.
During oral arguments Tuesday, one judge in particular was critical of arguments by advocacy groups that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should do more review of the CP2 LNG export project, which is currently under construction.
“If you look at what FERC did, they are doing what you want. They just didn’t reach the conclusion that you want,” Judge Patricia Millett of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said to Earthjustice senior attorney Nathan Matthews, representing commercial fishermen and environmental groups opposing the project.
The groups argued that FERC failed to assess whether the project’s harms outweighed its benefits when the agency determined the terminal was in the public interest under the Natural Gas Act. They also alleged that FERC failed to consider the cumulative effects of the boom in LNG terminal development in Cameron Parish, as required under the National Environmental Policy Act.
