Climate action groups vehemently reject the Biden administration’s assertion that approving a new offshore oil terminal – expected to be the largest in the United States – is in the “national interest”, after the U.S. Department of Transportation announced the project had met several federal standards. requirements and could begin operations by 2027.
The agency The Maritime Administration said last week that Enterprise Product Partners, a Houston-based pipeline company, had obtained a deepwater port license to build the Seaport Oil Terminal (SPOT) near Freeport, Texas, following a five-year federal review process.
The federal government determined that the $1.8 billion terminal project had undergone sufficient environmental impact studies and would benefit the country overall, even if the Sierra Club, which is fighting SPOT for several years, predicted that it would emit greenhouse gases equivalent to those of almost 90%. coal-fired power plants.
“The evidence is clear: SPOT would be catastrophic for the Gulf’s climate, wildlife and frontline communities,” said Devorah Ancel, senior attorney for the Sierra Club. “It threatens the future existence of the endangered Rice’s whale, whose population numbers fewer than fifty, and its ozone pollution would compromise the health of thousands of Gulf residents who have endured decades of pollution from the fossil fuel industry Make no mistake, SPOT is not in the national interest.
The project is expected to include two pipelines that would transport crude oil to the deep-water port each day, enabling the export of 2 million barrels of crude oil, loaded simultaneously onto two supertankers, daily.
“Nothing about this plan aligns with Biden’s climate and environmental justice goals,” said Kelsey Crane, senior policy advocate at Earthworks. “Communities that will be impacted by SPOT have once again been ignored and will be forced to live with the threat of more oil spills, explosions and pollution. The best way to protect the public and the climate from the harm of oil is to keep it in the ground.
Allie Rosenbluth, U.S. director of Oil Change International, noted that the project was approved despite the International Energy Agency’s clear assessment in 2021 that “all new investments in oil and gas projects must cease if the world wants to achieve its climate goals.” in particular by limiting global heating to 1.5°C.
“The Biden Administration’s decision to approve the Seaport Oil Terminal is a serious mistake. This approval will only harm local communities and ecosystems, and lead to even more devastating impacts of the climate crisis,” Rosenbluth said. “The United States is already the largest producer of oil and gas and has the largest expansion plans in the world. Instead of continuing this legacy of harm by approving fossil fuel projects, President Biden should listen to the science and the masses of his voters who are calling for an End to Fossil Fuels. »
The direct action group Climate Defiance expressed doubt that SPOT’s endorsement will help Biden win over voters heading into the 2024 election.
Nine in 10 Democratic voters and Democratic-leaning independents told the Pew Research Center last year that they think the United States should prioritize the development of renewable energy sources — and two-thirds of Republican voters in under 30s agreed.
“This project would be the largest oil export terminal in the United States” said the group. “We are being boiled alive here, literally being burned alive by ‘moderate’ politicians who see fit to torch us in the name of quarterly profits. How can we live like this? How can this continue?”
Last year was the hottest on record, and the first three months of 2024 each broke records for global high temperatures. Scientists discovered last year that climate disasters, including wildfires in Canada and extreme heat in Europe, were much more likely due to global heating from fossil fuels.
Local organizers in Texas condemned the Biden administration’s decision to ignore activists who warned of the danger SPOT poses to marine habitats as well as people who live in the area where two crude oil pipelines have now received final permission to operate.
“We continue to struggle to understand why Biden and [Transportation Secretary Pete] “Buttigieg prefers to protect the profits of billionaire oil giants like Enbridge and Enterprise, over the unconditional objections of people who would have to live with the consequences of pipelines crisscrossing our beaches,” said Trevor Carroll, Brazoria County lead organizer with Texas Campaign for the environment. “If you care about environmental justice and climate, you simply cannot support a monstrosity like SPOT. The local community and the global climate justice movement continue to fight… It’s not over. “
Melanie Oldham, director of Better Brazoria, said SPOT would be “an impending oil spill that would not only reduce property values, but also harm our local ecosystems, ecotourism, beaches, recreation and kill life.” marine species such as the endangered Rice’s whale and Kemp’s whale. Ridley Sea Turtles.”
“Those of us residents, beachgoers and voters who have opposed the SPOT offshore terminal and pipelines for the past four years are very disappointed in the approval of the project license,” Oldham said. “President Biden has once again broken his promises to protect frontline communities in Surfside and Freeport.”
The administration’s approval came three months after the White House announced it was delaying consideration of new gas export terminals, and the same day the federal government said fossil fuel companies will have to pay higher royalties to be able to drill on federal lands.
But these climate actions, associated with the approval of SPOT, constitute only an “about-face”. said Climate challenge.
“It’s not enough that the administration has stopped new gas exports if it now wants to stab us with this death sentence decision,” the group said. “This is not about being ‘ungrateful.’ This is pure, unvarnished science.