No False Climate Solutions PA

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is frozen methane cooled to minus 260 degrees F, reducing its volume by more than 600 times; it’s classified as a hazardous material. today produced from fracked gas wells. The risks of potential catastrophic damage to human life and the environment posed by a fire, explosion, or release of the gas from a spill or breach of an LNG container endanger anyone in its path.

The industry is pushing to export LNG overseas as a way to pump up the market for fossil gas to make money. But as big oil and gas companies count their dollars and glut the world with LNG, communities where the gas is fracked and transported by pipeline, truck or train, and where the gas liquefaction facility operates and the export terminal loads enormous ships that carry the LNG, and where ports receive it and nations burn it at gas power plants, pollution is belted out at every step. The cradle to grave life cycle of LNG has a greater total greenhouse gas footprint than that of coal, diesel oil, or natural gas. (Howarth, R.W. (2024). The Greenhouse Gas Footprint of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Exported from the United States. Cornell University. Submitted to a peer-reviewed journal October 24, 2023). The pollution and human health devastation from fracking and its infrastructure in Pennsylvania will be exacerbated by the growth of LNG exports; fracking proponents are pushing to expand LNG exports fed by PA shale gas.

In the Delaware River Watershed, two LNG export terminal projects are being fought. The Gibbstown LNG Export Terminal would begin by fracking wells in the Marcellus shale and piping it to Bradford County where it would be liquefied and then transported by truck and/or rail to New Jersey for export overseas from the Gibbstown LNG Export Terminal – the project has been delayed but is not dead. See: https://delawareriverkeeper.org/issues/climate-change-fossil-fuels-and-energy/gibbstown-logistics-center-lng-ngl-exports-proposed/ In Chester, PA, Penn America LNG wants to build a LNG processing plant and export terminal but Chester is fighting back. Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living and partner organizations from the region have stalled the project but the company claims they will prevail. See: https://chesterpaej.org/no-lng-in-chester/ The PA Legislature and the fracking industry continues to push for LNG export projects to line their pockets, despite the damage it causes, particularly for communities already overburdened with environmental pollution, many for more than a hundred years.

SOME FACTS ABOUT LNG LIFE CYCLE IMPACTS:

• Communities of color and those with low household incomes comprise about 38 percent of the people living within three miles of proposed LNG facilities. In addition to safety threats, public health is negatively impacted by air pollution from LNG processing, including particulate matter 2.5, total particulate matter, hazardous air pollutants such as benzene and mercury compounds, volatile organic compounds, ammonia, sulfuric acid, sulfur oxides, and nitrogen oxides.
• Those closest to the emission source receive the most harm from most pollutants. Furthermore, the enormous footprint of these emissions can cause damage to human health for up to 159 miles.
• According to the Environmental Health Project, the construction of LNG facilities and the production and transportation of natural gas negatively impact the environment and human health in a number of ways:
  • Plant explosions
  • Toxic emissions that include carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and volatile organic compounds that are associated with a range of health impacts, including: headaches; respiratory illnesses; heart disease; cancer; and damage to the reproductive system
  • Water and noise pollution
  • Mental health issues including stress, anxiety and depression

SOME FACTS ABOUT LNG EXPORT:

• According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the United States is the world’s largest producer of natural gas.
• PA is the 2^nd greatest producer of natural gas.
• In 2023, the United States was the largest supplier of LNG to Europe according to CEDIGAZ, accounting for nearly half of total LNG imports.
• Total European gas consumption down by 20% or more and policy trends suggest further declines in Europe’s gas demand
• From 2025-2027, a massive amount of new LNG capacity is coming online around the world, without new terminals in the U.S., making the potential for and LNG glut and low prices.
• Paradoxically, global LNG prices could fall even as US gas prices rise; already domestic U.S. gas prices are being jacked up with the increase in exports, mainly from the Gulf Coast.