From his home in Louisiana, Travis Dardar shows us a huge gas export terminal and the land that could house one.
The collateral victim of the US gas industry even tells us that this project is "much worse than a hurricane" after which "you can rebuild".
The Russian gas crisis cannot improve the situation. Indeed, the United States would like to take advantage of this to export liquefied gas (LNG). But these exports require huge buildings that sit on concrete platforms. They are mainly found in the coastal region between the states of Texas and Louisiana.
The terminal planned for construction would be located a hundred metres from the home of Travis Dardar and his wife, who would be forced to leave if the project were to go ahead, hoping that their land would be bought back at a suitable price.
Another project is also planned where the couple used to fish for shrimp and oysters.
After the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, US President Joe Biden promised to increase LNG exports to Europe, which is heavily dependent on Russian gas.
According to the LNG Centre, 44.6 billion cubic metres have already been exported in 2022 compared to 26 in 2020. The United States has thus become the world's largest exporter of LNG. The industry is mainly located in the Gulf of Mexico, a strategic location with a large infrastructure. This area alone contains 5 of the country's 7 terminals and 22 of the 24 projects submitted to the authorities. An activity that should bring "many jobs according to Charlie Riedl, executive director of the LNG Centre. According to him, the government must authorise projects without delay as long as they respect environmental criteria.
Residents, on the other hand, feel that the coasts of Louisiana and Texas are being "sacrificed".
"You have noise, light, air pollution and several dozen hectares of concreted swamp"
"You have noise, light, air pollution and dozens of hectares of concreted marshland," says John Allaire, who points from his boat to the new terminal that has been built near his home. In addition, the LNG tankers cause huge waves that erode the coast.
The Texan city of Port Arthur has several petrochemical facilities.
Near the Cheniere Energy terminal - which last year paid nearly $1.5 million in fines for cracks in its tanks - activist John Beard leads a "toxic tour" of the area, along with environmental groups.
In June, an explosion caused the temporary closure of the Freeport LNG terminal further south, reminding residents of the immediate risks posed by this unique neighbourhood.
But John Beard, head of the Port Arthur Community Action Network, also denounces the long-term effects on the health of the largely minority residents.
The majority of Port Arthur's population is African-American or Hispanic, and a quarter of them live below the poverty line, according to the US Census Bureau.
The county has a 25% higher cancer death rate than the rest of the state, according to the Texas Cancer Registry.
John Beard believes that the manufacturers did not choose this area by chance: "they are taking the path of least resistance, the path of the poor, the path of those who do not have access to lawyers, who do not have the education or the knowledge.
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