LNG is no answer to the existential threat of Trump

The moon landing happened, climate change is real and liquified natural gas (LNG) is just another fossil fuel — no better than oil or coal.

During the election we're hearing a lot of misleading information about LNG. Proponents claim it’s a “clean” source of energy — a “bridge fuel” to help wean the planet off of oil and coal and transition to renewable energy, but it only delays that transition. They say LNG is a significant source of tax revenues for Canadian governments, but the opposite is true.  

They will also contend that rapidly building out Canada’s gas capacity is the magic bullet to deal with Donald Trump’s economic and existential threats, but by the time any such projects can be completed — even on a fast track — Trump should be just another retired Floridian.
You’re also hearing spin from the fossil fuel industry itself, which is mostly owned by U.S. investors. Sometimes it will be via its talking-points parroted by politicians, sometimes it will be via advertising. Sometimes it will directly ask the federal government to go “Trump-light” in response to tariffs.
 
These arguments in defense of LNG will be said in many different ways, but the talking points — perpetuated by the fossil fuel industry — have remained the same for decades. Let’s take a look at them.

Neither clean, nor a solution 

LNG is about as clean as “clean” as coal — which is to say, not at all. In fact, scientific studies have shown that the climate impacts of LNG are actually worse than coal. This is because the fossil gas is methane, which is 86 times as potent a greenhouse gas as carbon dioxide. This methane leaks into the atmosphere all the way from well to market.

On top of this, Canadian LNG is produced by fracking, which not only poisons water supplies and harms health, but also causes earthquakes. Studies of families living near fracking sites have shown that drilling may increase cases of asthma and childhood cancer.

It’s not a ‘bridge fuel’

When science says your business model of “drill, baby, drill” will kill everyone, of course you’ll say, “just until we get to a better place,” so you can keep drilling. And by convincing everyone that LNG is somehow safer than what’s already out there — think arsenic, instead of strychnine — you hope you can reap the investments in the lies you’ve sown. The result is that, instead of being a “bridge” to renewable energy, it’s a wall in the way of building up clean alternatives. The fact that renewable energy adoption undercuts the LNG business model is terrifying to the fossil fuel industry.

It won’t make us rich 

First of all, it’s not our stuff. So, if you’re thinking in terms of “buy Canadian,” LNG needs to be taken off the shelf. With that in mind, the majority of revenue from selling “Canadian” LNG will return neither to the Canadian government nor Canadians themselves. The money moves in the opposite direction: from the Canadian government — and the taxpayer — to the LNG industry. LNG terminals and fracking companies have received significant government fossil fuel subsidies, including a $5.35 billion package of incentives for the LNG Canada terminal from the Province of BC, and recently $200 million from the federal government for Cedar LNG. On top of that, LNG companies do not have to pay royalties until they have paid off the cost of drilling new wells. 

Within Canada, the household shift from gas is underway, making the industry’s statement of “Canadian LNG for Canadians” an empty promise. Outside of Canada, potential buyers are taking steps to adopt renewable energy. And LNG exports don’t save the climate, either — they’ve done nothing to displace the use of coal in countries like China. 

It won’t create energy independence or protect us from tariffs

The hurt and confusion inflicted upon Canadians by Trump’s schoolyard swings has been a gift to the LNG industry. It wasted no time in trying to capitalize on the shock by demanding the fast-tracking of its projects. The problem with its demand? There’s no way any gas infrastructure could be built before the end of Trump’s term. Of course, the industry is thinking of long-term profits; locking methane pollution in for decades to come while boosting the profits of the foreign companies that own the LNG in Canada.

Trump is a fossil-fuel sycophant. Thinking he can be managed by leveraging fossil fuels such as LNG is akin to thinking you can fight a dumpster fire with cooking grease. Using neoliberalism to combat neoliberalism is never going to work, and if Canada wants to be truly energy-independent, locking ourselves into a wildly fluctuating and rapidly diminishing fossil fuel market is not the way to do it.

If you’re looking for energy independence and truly want to buy Canadian, guess what? Renewable energy is abundant, immediately scaleable, cheap, and locally owned. It creates long-term employment, brings revenue to people living in Canada, and won’t poison the communities where it’s built or doom your grandchildren.

Sven Biggs is the Canada oil and gas program director with Stand.earth