The liquefied natural gas boom hits a snag in Port Arthur, Texas. A federal court has revoked a key permit for Sempra Energy,   the LNG facility could worsen pollution in Black and Latino neighborhoods.The liquefied natural gas, or LNG, industry has exploded across the U.S. Gulf Coast over the past decade, burying once-remote shorelines under hundreds of acres of concrete and steel, where the fossil fuel is cooled so it can be shipped across the globe. The war in Ukraine has fanned the flames of this buildout, with the federal government urging companies to export the fuel to Europe as it weans itself off Russian gas. While the growth shows no sign of slowing — at least two dozen projects are currently underway — one of the industry’s largest new developments now faces a major hurdle. After years of legal battles, a federal court struck down a key permit for Sempra Energy’s new plant in Port Arthur, Texas, last week, calling the state’s decision to approve it “arbitrary and capricious.” Sempra’s project, named the Port Arthur LNG Export Terminal, is currently under construction along the Sabine-Neches ship channel, which will give it direct access to the Gulf of Mexico. When operational, it would be capable of producing up to 27 million tons of liquefied natural gas every year, giving it the potential to add more than 7 million tons of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere annually. The facility, and others like it, also emit chemicals like nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide, which aggravate the respiratory system. Sempra’s construction site is less than 10 miles from Port Arthur, an industrial city where more than 70 percent of residents are Black or Latino and where a labyrinth of refineries and petrochemical plants release toxic chemicals like benzene into the air day and night. Local residents and advocates opposed to Sempra’s project argue that it will only worsen public health in an area where asthma and cancer rates already exceed the national average. As a result, many celebrated last week’s decision. “Every step in this fight, we’ve won by standing up for Port Arthur communities of color to breathe free from toxic pollution,” John Beard, a former refinery worker and one of the region’s most outspoken environmental advocates, said in a press release. “When attacked, we fight back — and win!”               https://grist.org/energy/liquefied-natural-gas-port-arthur-texas-permit/?