In 2021, at an international climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, Joe Biden promised that the U.S. would ‘lead by example’ on the path to reversing the impacts of climate change. Two years later, after approving the Willow Project—an oil drilling project projected to emit enormous amounts of carbon emissions, Biden plans to construct one of the world’s largest gas-exporting centers. This would continue to release harmful greenhouse gasses into our atmosphere.
Calcasieu Pass 2 (CP2) is being planned to be constructed in Cameron Parish, which is located in the southwest corner of Louisiana. This $10 billion dollar project plans to transport 24 million tons of liquified natural gas each year to pipelines on the Gulf Coast, which may later be exported to European allies. According to The Guardian, U.S. liquified natural gas projects emit 712 million tons of carbon dioxide annually. With the upcoming CP2 project, which is expected to be 20 times larger than the Willow Oil Project, greenhouse gas emissions will skyrocket.
But why does this matter? Greenhouse gas emissions are the core reason for the current climate crisis. The greenhouse effect is the process by which heat is trapped in the earth’s atmosphere by certain gasses called “greenhouse gasses.” One of those greenhouse gasses happens to be carbon dioxide, a gas which is released into the atmosphere due to the production of LNGs. The process also releases methane, another harmful greenhouse gas.
After this project is up and running, the extreme amounts of carbon emissions would categorize CP2 as a “carbon mega bomb.” “The world has never been hotter—why on Earth are we even talking about finding a way to spew even more greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere?” says Bill McKibben, the co-founder of the305.org, an activist group fighting for climate action.
Biden’s Calcasieu Pass 2 project will have detrimental impacts on the climate. The project faces disapproval from many scientists and environmentalists, who believe that it is unnecessary due to the high and increasing temperatures of our earth’s climate. With Biden’s inconsistency in keeping commitments dealing with the climate crisis, our world is on a journey towards environmental destruction if urgent action isn’t taken.