DefendSWLA

The fishermen will fight before they take everything we have. We will fight.

Travis Dardar, Cameron fisherman

Why should we let oil and gas companies take Louisiana's gas and sell it to America's competitors?

John Allaire, Holly Beach resident

If we don’t stop these terminals, Southwest Louisiana won’t be around for my children or for future generations.

Roishetta Ozane, Lake Charles resident

If gas companies think they can put our climate and national security at risk, they have another thing coming.

General Russel Honoré

The LNG ships are killing our waterways.

Anthony Theriot, Cameron fisherman

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Gas Exports: Bad for SWLA

Gas Exports: Bad for America

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Paving Over a Fisherman’s Paradise

The Port of Cameron was once the nation’s largest producer of seafood, bringing in 679 million pounds in 1984. Today, the oil and gas industry is destroying our fishing and shrimping grounds as well as the docks we used to fish and launch our boats from to build gas export terminals. Massive tankers decimate the Calcasieu River, all so these companies can sell gas on the other side of the world. We don’t want to become an industrial wasteland – we want to support our local seafood industry, the one that sustained us for generations and put Cameron on the map.

Defend Southwest Louisiana from Gas Export Terminals

Have you seen the massive gas export terminals along our coast, releasing flares of toxic pollutants into our communities? Through a highly volatile process, the oil and gas industry uses these terminals to liquify our gas so they can then export it internationally. None of the gas produced here in Louisiana is even for us. Energy companies ship it overseas where they can charge more for gas, making all of our gas bills higher. We take all the risk, and they make all the profit.

Our neighbors living in the shadow of these terminals, have to breathe the toxic air they release. Our fishers and shrimpers are struggling to get their catch because the terminals are built on their fishing grounds. Our coast is being bulldozed for these terminals, making all of us more vulnerable to floods and storms.The more the industry exports, the bigger the mess they leave behind. There’s already 4 gas export terminals in Southwest Louisiana – they want to build at least 10.

We won’t be fooled into accepting their dirty deal. Their plans won’t make our bills cheaper or protect our community. They’ll only bring higher energy costs, out-of-work fishers and shrimpers, coastal devastation, decreased home values, and more severe floods and natural disasters for SWLA families. All so that the oil and gas industry can export gas to other countries.

TOGETHER, WE CAN DEFEND OUR HOMES, OUR FISHERMEN AND SHRIMPERS, OUR BUSINESSES, AND OUR COMMUNITIES FROM THE GAS INDUSTRY’S GREED.

Enough is Enough

The oil and gas industry wants to build these gas export terminals on top of our pristine but fragile coast, our fishing and shrimping grounds, and our homes.

Calcasieu Parish

CAMERON PARISH

Where Does the Gas Go?

Once gas is piped across our state and loaded onto tankers in Southwest Louisiana, it sells to the highest bidder—whether that’s a friend in Europe, or a foe, like China. The oil and gas industry is interested in profit, not patriotism. They won’t keep the gas here in the U.S. to bring our prices down, and they won’t reroute their exports to Europe to alleviate the ongoing humanitarian crisis. Instead, they’ll continue selling to the highest bidders on the open market—even when that highest bidder is one of America’s global adversaries.

The Myth of Gas for America

New gas export terminals serve one purpose: to take gas out of Louisiana and export it to other countries. They won’t power homes and businesses here, but they will create electricity and power manufacturing in China, Brazil, and elsewhere. By exporting gas to competing businesses and foreign governments that can be hostile to the United States, the oil and gas industry is profiting by putting the American people at a disadvantage. Meanwhile, exports are fueling our adversaries, costing us tens of thousands of American manufacturing jobs, increasing domestic energy costs, and wreaking coastal devastation that will make SWLA families more vulnerable to floods and hurricanes.

The Reality of Scarcity

Fossil fuels aren’t renewable, and our country only has 13 years of gas remaining in our proven reserves. “Proven reserves” are the amount of readily available gas that the industry and government regulators know is there. If the U.S. were to keep exporting gas at the rates we are today—or at even faster rates as they propose—we would run out of gas in little more than a decade.

Fishermen Fighting Back

One of our partners is Fishermen Involved in Sustaining our Heritage. FISH is a Louisiana-based, indigenously-led nonprofit organization and coalition of dedicated commercial fishermen. Led by fisherman Travis Dardar, their mission is to passionately advocate for environmental preservation, safeguarding against LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) threats, and championing the rights of commercial fishermen to flourish and prosper. Through unwavering dedication, FISH raises awareness and extends direct mutual aid to uplift and support the vibrant community of Gulf Coast commercial fishermen. Follow FISH on Facebook, Instagram and its website, fishermenfightback.org

#SWLAStrong

We are former plant workers, builders, entrepreneurs, teachers, hospitality workers, musicians, professionals, and advocates, and we’re coming together to protect beautiful Southwest Louisiana—where we live, work, play, and raise our families.

SWLA is our home. Together, we can ensure it remains a prosperous, healthy, and safe community for generations to come.