NEW ORLEANS – A Louisiana judge has nullified a crucial permit for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, initially greenlit by the Trump administration, mandating a state review to assess the environmental impact of the facility’s emissions on Gulf Coast communities that are particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels and severe weather conditions.

Last week, a judge from the 38th Judicial District Court of Louisiana effectively put a pause on the construction of Commonwealth LNG. The decision requires state regulators to examine the potential effects of the facility on climate change and environmental justice, alongside the overall expansion of LNG infrastructure in Cameron Parish, located in southwest Louisiana.

Cameron Parish is home to three of the United States’ eight operational LNG export terminals, with additional facilities either proposed or currently under construction in the area.

The ruling, which annulled the coastal use permit issued by the Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy, will be contested by the state attorney general, who has announced plans to appeal the decision.

“This marks the first instance where a court has revoked an LNG facility permit due to the government’s oversight in evaluating climate change impacts,” stated Clay Garside, an attorney representing environmental organizations, including the Sierra Club.

Earlier this year, Trump reversed a Biden-era pause on exports of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, as part of his goal to boost natural gas exports and promote “energy dominance.”

Last year, the Biden administration’s Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm’s hard warned that “unfettered exports” of liquefied natural gas would increase planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions — a statement reflecting the findings of a Department of Energy report released in December.

Trump-appointed Energy Secretary Chris Wright, a fossil fuel executive, has moved to fast-track the buildout of LNG facilities, including Commonwealth LNG, which received an export authorization within weeks of Trump’s inauguration.

“Cameron Parish is ground zero for the relentless expansion of the gas export industry,” said Anne Rolfes, founder of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, an environmental group involved in the litigation. “We’re going to stop it and this is an important step in that process.”

Lyle Hanna, a Commonwealth LNG spokesperson, said that “we are disappointed with the District Court’s decision, and we are exploring all available legal options.”

A spokesperson for the Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy declined to comment, citing the potential of pending litigation. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said that the state planned to appeal.

“Sadly even state court judges are not immune from climate activism,” Murrill said.

Last year, a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., had ordered the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to re-assess Commonwealth LNG’s air pollution, including its greenhouse gas emissions. In June, the commission gave the project a greenlight on the grounds that its construction was in the public interest.

In regulatory filings, the Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy said that “climate change is currently beyond the scope of this review.”

But District Judge Penelope Richard rejected this position, saying state environmental regulators have a duty to consider how the LNG facility, along with others clustered nearby, would impact extreme weather events, storm severity and sea-level rise in a state where a football field-worth of land disappears every 100 minutes.

Richard also ordered state regulators to analyze the facility’s impacts on local communities, especially those living in poverty or relying on fishing for their livelihoods — which she noted was the “defining characteristic” of the parish. While the facility could destroy marshes, harm water quality and displace residents, the judge wrote, “none of it was considered in terms of impacts on environmental justice communities.”

Commercial fisherman Eddie LeJuine, a lifelong Cameron Parish resident, applauded the ruling. He said the buildout of LNG infrastructure, including dredging for shipping channels, has significantly harmed the fishing industry.

“The fishermen are barely hanging on with a thread,” LeJuine said. “These plants are killing the estuary and killing our livelihoods. We’re getting extinct.”

In August, a dredging channel being developed by LNG firm Venture Global leaked into a nearby estuary. Local fishermen like LeJuine say the onslaught of saltwater and sediment will kill off large amounts of oyster, crab and fish.

Venture Global, which is in the process of constructing a second LNG export terminal in the parish, said it is “committed to conservation” and is working with state regulators and the community to respond to the incident.

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Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.