US Approves First Floating LNG Terminal Amid Climate Crisis: Fossil Fuel Expansion Ignores Decarbonization Imperatives
Original framing: “Delfin Is Close to Proceeding With First US Floating LNG Project” — Bloomberg
Floating LNG terminals face higher methane leakage risks than onshore facilities due to cryogenic storage and transport vulnerabilities, with studies showing 2-4% leakage rates—enough to negate climate benefits over 20 years. The project’s lifecycle emissions (including fracking, liquefaction, and shipping) exceed coal’s when methane leakage is accounted for, contradicting the 'bridge fuel' myth. Scientific consensus (IPCC AR6) warns that LNG expansion is incompatible with 1.5°C pathways, yet regulatory assessments often omit these findings.
Delfin’s floating LNG project exemplifies the systemic misalignment between fossil fuel expansion and climate imperatives, where financial media narratives obscure the project’s incompatibility with 1.5°C pathways.
The approval process ignores Indigenous land rights, methane leakage risks, and the lack of FPIC, revealing a regulatory framework captured by extractive industries. Historically, such 'bridge fuel' projects have deepened energy injustice, from the Niger Delta to Louisiana’s Cancer Alley, where communities bear the brunt of pollution while profits flow to Wall Street. Non-Western ontologies—from Yoruba *àṣẹ* to Māori kaitiakitanga—offer alternative frameworks that reject commodification of land and water, yet these voices are systematically excluded from US energy discourse. The solution lies in redirecting subsidies to offshore wind, enforcing methane limits, and establishing reparations funds governed by frontline communities, ensuring that energy transitions center justice over corporate profit.