A federal appeals court on Tuesday rejected environmental groups' and commercial fishermen's petitions against the government's approval of Venture Global's CP2 LNG export terminal and its 91-mile CP Express pipeline in Louisiana. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals found the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission complied with the law when it authorized construction of the project in 2025.
A unanimous panel
Senior Judge Douglas Ginsburg, a Reagan appointee, wrote the opinion for a three-judge panel that also included Karen Henderson, a George H.W. Bush appointee, and Patricia Millett, an Obama appointee. The challengers had raised eleven alleged errors under the Natural Gas Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. "Because these arguments lack merit, we deny the petitions for review," Ginsburg wrote.
Why the challenge failed
Ginsburg wrote that the Natural Gas Act sets a high bar for FERC to find an LNG terminal is not in the public interest, since the commission's review starts from a presumption that it must approve the project. He called the public-interest determination a "fact-bound inquiry" rather than a fixed test. The court also pointed to a recent Supreme Court ruling that narrowed the scope of NEPA reviews, which it said kept the panel from weighing the other factors the challengers raised. Ginsburg wrote that the petitioners' case would "ask us to engage in a more searching review than precedent allows."
Years of local opposition
The petitions were led by For a Better Bayou, a coalition of environmental groups and local fishermen that has fought the growth of LNG facilities along Louisiana's Calcasieu Ship Channel over concerns about air quality, the climate and local fisheries. Commercial fishermen asked the court last year to halt construction, arguing that sediment from the project was smothering shrimp, oysters and fish. The group also argued FERC failed to take the "hard look" NEPA requires at the project's effects on air quality, commercial fishing and climate change.
Earthjustice says the fight continues
Nathan Matthews, a senior attorney at Earthjustice who argued the case, said FERC approved CP2 without contending that its benefits outweighed its costs. He said a separate, still-pending lawsuit challenges the Energy Department over its handling of the terminal's effects on the nearby community of Cameron Parish. Agencies need to "go back to the drawing board," Matthews said, to properly serve the public interest.
Venture Global: construction advancing
A spokesperson for Venture Global called CP2 "critical to U.S. economic growth and global energy security" and said construction is advancing at the site, with first LNG expected in the second half of 2027. FERC declined to comment on the litigation, citing its policy against discussing pending cases.
We previously reported that Baker Hughes landed an order for six liquefaction blocks on Venture Global's CP2.
