The Sierra Club suffered a setback when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled against its challenge of the government’s approval of an LNG export project in Corpus Christi, Texas.
The Court upheld the orders of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission which approved the Corpus Christi Liquefaction project of Cheniere Energy. The firm sought approval in 2012 and FERC issued an approval in late 2014.
The Sierra Club contended the project would result in harmful greenhouse gas emissions and they were not taken into consideration by FERC. The Court ruled FERC had sole authority to license the export of any natural gas and its National Environmental Policy Act analysis did not have to address the indirect effects of the anticipated export of natural gas.