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Panel discussion | Imported suffering and climate chaos: the dark side of fracking LNG
Panelists:
Founder, President and CEO of the Port Arthur Community Action Network (PACAN), USA
Program Director of Chispa Texas, a Latino grassroots organizing program in Texas, USA
Sabine von Mering
Director of the Center for German and European Studies (CGES) and faculty member in Environmental Studies at Brandeis University, Massachusetts
Andy Gheorghiu
Freelance campaigner and consultant for climate/environmental protection, co-founder of the German Climate Alliance against LNG and coordinator of the transatlantic anti-LNG network
"Completely oversized". These are the words used by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) to describe the German government's LNG strategy. According to DIW, the planned LNG import infrastructure is not needed to secure the gas supply. The traffic light must now draw the right conclusions from this. And quickly.
Because the German government's excessive LNG expansion plans are one thing above all: they are bad for the climate. In order for LNG terminals off Rügen, in Brunsbüttel, Stade and Wilhelmshaven to be allowed to feed in climate-damaging natural gas, the gas must first reach Germany. It is primarily extracted in the USA using the fracking method, which is particularly harmful to the environment and climate, then liquefied at great energy expense and finally shipped thousands of kilometers to Germany. Experts say: Overall, LNG has a worse carbon footprint than coal.
Nevertheless, German companies are signing long-term contracts with US companies and German banks are investing in LNG export terminals in the USA. The main burden of these irresponsible investments is borne by low-income communities and already discriminated groups in the United States. A stakeholder dialog between German energy companies and NGOs has revealed: LNG - especially fracked gas - has significant human rights risks. Based on the Supply Chain Act, the extraction, processing and import of LNG and fracked gas are extremely problematic. The structural human rights violations must be urgently addressed. This is another reason for an intensive review of the German LNG strategy.
We have now invited people from the US LNG export regions with a direct connection to Germany. As part of their lecture tour in Germany, Elida Castillo and John Beard from Corpus Christi and Port Arthur, Texas, who are directly affected by environmental destruction and environmental human rights violations caused by global LNG infrastructure and petrochemicals, will report on their living situation and their resistance in a global context.