Investigative work by action group reveal insurers of Calcasieu Pass Methane Export Terminal
(New York City, New York) — Breaking through an opaque system, Rainforest Action Network obtained information on exactly who is insuring the Calcasieu Pass methane export terminal owned by Venture Global, located in Southwest Louisiana. The company recently had an abysmal IPO brought on by a shaky business model and fierce resistance from the fishing and local exploited communities. The information comes at a time of increased public scrutiny on the insurance sector’s profit from fossil fuel projects due to the fires in LA and the polar vortex that swept the south.
Insurers are revealed to be Chubb, AIG, Allianz, Swiss Re, AXA, Tokio Marine, and Sompo; Munich Re’s subsidiary Great Lakes Insurance and Scor’s subsidiary General Security Indemnity Company of Arizona; among others. All of these global insurers have climate policies; for example, Chubb is the first US insurer with a methane policy but the revelation that it is insuring another methane terminal calls its effectiveness into question. Insure Our Future’s recent report states that insurance companies make $11.3 billion on fossil fuel premiums and pay out $10.6 billion in climate disasters.
Locals are holding these insurers accountable as they see underwriting methane companies as an attack on their way of life. Communities living in the wake of the operating methane terminal name the flaring, toxic emissions, and impacts on the local landscape as devastating. Promised jobs are often given to out of state workers who disappear once a facility is built and remaining jobs require expertise not offered to local residents.
Venture Global’s ownership of operating and proposed methane export terminals in Louisiana is catastrophic for the climate. Their facilities are the emissions equivalent of over 160 coal fired power plants. Construction for the methane gas export terminal in Southeast Louisiana, Plaquemines LNG, has led to water shortages in the local community. Venture Global is also seeking permits and financing for two additional new methane gas export terminals, the highly contested CP2 and Delta LNG.
Climate and energy experts say there is no need for fossil fuel expansion for a global energy transition, that a new surge in LNG infrastructure would provide a supply glut that could crash the price of methane gas, increase costs for American families, and that meeting net zero by 2050 necessitates ending the expansion of new fossil fuels.
QUOTES:
As a resident of southwest Louisiana directly impacted by these LNG facilities, I find it unconscionable that insurers continue to underwrite these massive carbon emitters—yet refuse to provide coverage to the very homeowners and communities most exposed to the climate change fallout from their operations. – John Allaire, Retired Oil and Gas Industry Environmental Manager and Landowner Near Venture Global Facility
Environmental justice needs strong, capable leaders from every sector. Chubb is failing to show that leadership, publishing a methane policy while fully knowing that it is on the insurance certificate for Venture Global and Sempra’s methane/LNG facilities. My home and my family are fighting these companies and anyone associated with them because enough is enough. We are sick of the pollution and the corruption – Chubb, if it has a shred of morality, will drop out of these projects now. – Roishetta Sibley Ozane, Founder of the Vessel Project
Fossil fuel companies and their government allies moved Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) projects into the region and turned our fishing community upside down. The Calcasieu Pass LNG export terminal was just 300 feet from my house, and promised “deep-water access, proximity to plentiful gas supplies and ease of transport for buyers”. Vibrations from its operations were so intense they knocked pictures off my wall. My wife suffered a heart attack, and my children were frequently ill. Facing dire health consequences and daily interruptions, my family was driven from our home. –Travis Dardar, Indigenous Fisherman of Cameron, Founder of FISH – Fishermen Involved in Sustaining our Heritage
My name is Lerlene Rodrigue. I live in Cameron, Louisiana and I’m here to stop LNG. It has totally destroyed our community. Born and raised there. Memories are all gone. All you see is a plant when you open the door. It’s not a place I want to be anymore. – Lerlene Rodrigue, multigenerational fisherwoman of Cameron, member of Fishermen Involved in Sustaining our Heritage
My family has lived in Southwest Louisiana for generations, and we have watched our “Sportsman’s Paradise” slowly deteriorate under unchecked pollution and escalating climate disasters. It’s profoundly troubling that insurers claiming to be climate-conscious refuse coverage to local families and small businesses, yet stand ready to underwrite the very industries that are helping cause this devastation. – Lori Cooke, Louisiana Bucket Brigade-Southwest Louisiana
Freeport LNG, Cameron LNG, Tacoma LNG, Gulf LNG, and now Calcasieu Pass LNG… Where will AXA and SCOR’s addiction to liquefied natural gas end? While they claim to be committed to a just transition that benefits everyone, they are blindly insuring an LNG terminal that is destroying the health and economy of the fishing community and local workers. If AXA and SCOR are serious about the commitments they have made, they cannot ignore these impacts – and they should update their policies to exclude cover for new LNG export terminals. – Ariel Le Bourdonnec, Insurance campaigner at Reclaim Finance
Despite Chubb being the first US insurer with a methane gas policy, we continue to uncover that it’s one of the biggest backers behind Gulf methane expansion. With the devastating threats to Louisiana fisherfolk livelihoods and safety we urge Chubb CEO Evan Greenberg to be a leader and stop insuring methane terminals, like Calcasieu Pass LNG and Cameron LNG. – Ethan Nuss, Senior Energy Finance Campaigner at Rainforest Action Network
Allianz and Munich Re both claim to be climate leaders and here they are again underwriting yet another LNG terminal. They have heard many times about the problems connected to the LNG export terminals. It is high time to stop supporting this business. – Regine Richter, Insurance campaigner at urgewald
Originally published on Rainforest Action Network’s site.
