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Sherry Peshoff can see the steel wall from her front door. Her home is lifted 12 feet off the ground to protect it from stormwaters that surge in off the Gulf, but it’s not as high as the wall.
Rust red and corrugated, the 31.5-foot-high solid steel fence circumscribes a natural gas export terminal that sprawls across 1,150 acres where grasslands stood just a year ago. The wall is meant to hold back the type of storm surges that pushed through here when Hurricane Rita hit in 2005, followed by Ike in 2008 and Laura and Delta in 2020.
Before the storms, Cameron was home to some 2,000 people. Today, fewer than 200 remain. In their place, a company called Venture Global is building a complex of liquefied natural gas terminals that will be one of the largest in the country. The industrial operations cluster together gas-fired turbines and compressors to super-cool methane gas until it becomes a liquid, which is then pumped into tankers and shipped across the ocean.
Liquefied natural gas, or LNG, is one of the oil and gas industry’s most lucrative wins. Over a decade, the United States went from nothing to become the world’s largest exporter, and output is expected to nearly double between now and 2029. The growth defied the Biden administration’s goal of reining in climate pollution and has been super-charged by the Trump administration’s pro-fossil-fuel agenda.
No LNG exporter is growing faster than Venture Global. Started by a former investment banker and a Washington lawyer, the company was built in the mold of its founders.
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What Happened When an LNG Giant Came to Town
BY NICHOLAS KUSNETZ
The nation’s fastest-growing gas exporter has leveraged the Iran war and permissive regulations to earn bumper profits. But people in tiny Cameron, Louisiana, say the firm’s operations have upended their lives.Why Is It So Expensive to Replace Lead Pipes in Chicago?
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Global plans to drill and expand fossil fuel projects overlap with marine protected areas and important fishing grounds, a new report finds.Three Wildland Firefighters Killed in Colorado Blaze
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BY MADELINE SHAW
Recorded populations of the northeastern bulrush grew more than elevenfold, but researchers say the plant is not out of the woods yet.New Gold Exploration Revives Old Fears for Montana’s Blackfoot River
BY MOSABBER HOSSAIN
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The town of Estancia and the ICE facility are trucking in water until a new well is drilled.Echoes of the Past in Pennsylvania Coal Towns’ Fight Against Data Centers
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As the data center buildout escalates, rural Pennsylvanians urge lawmakers not to repeat past mistakes.California’s First Carbon Capture Project Is Up and Running. Environmentalists Are Still Trying To Stop It.
BY EMMA FOEHRINGER MERCHANT
As the state drafts pipeline rules for projects injecting CO2 underground, environmental groups are pressing for a more thorough assessment of the newly launched operation.Rights of Nature Laws Are Coming Up Against Legal Systems Designed for Destruction
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BY AVRIL SILVA
As Virginia, Maryland and Delaware face more floods, their elected officials want to use federal dollars to deploy natural mitigation techniques.Millions in Climate Investments for Developing Countries Were Just Announced. It’s Not Nearly Enough.
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As businesses, governments and activists gathered in London, investments in developing countries to advance climate action took center stage, but financing efforts still lag behind international targets.
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New Florida Law Bans Local Net-Zero Emissions Policies
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Gov. Ron DeSantis characterized the clean energy goals the law bans as “radical climate policies,” although experts say the law will not necessarily upend the plans.
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