Posted on October 17, 2025
The ruling effectively blocks construction while state officials study the project’s climate and community impacts.
A Louisiana court has tossed out a key permit for a massive liquefied natural gas export terminal along the Gulf Coast.
On Friday, Louisiana’s 38th Judicial District Court ordered state environmental regulators to redo their analysis for Commonwealth LNG’s coastal use permit, effectively blocking construction while that work is completed.
The Louisiana Department of Energy and Natural Resources (LDENR) Office of Coastal Management must now reconsider how the project will affect disadvantaged communities already facing pollution from existing fossil fuel projects, along with the indirect and cumulative climate effects of the LNG terminal on the state’s coastline.
The permit will be vacated until the agency “makes a finding that the benefits of this project outweigh the costs to the community,” Judge Penelope Richard wrote in her order.
The decision is a win for the Sierra Club, Louisiana Bucket Brigade and Turtle Island Restoration Network. They had claimed the permit violated the state’s constitution and coastal use guidelines, as well as the State and Local Coastal Resources Management Act of 1978.
