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Shell Abandons Driftwood LNG After Tellurian's Failed Billion Dollar Bond Sale, Project Now On Shaky Grounds
Today, news broke that Shell and Vitol dropped their investments in Tellurian Inc's Driftwood LNG, one of the largest fracked gas export terminals proposed in Southwest Louisiana (SWLA). Shell's announcement comes just days after Tellurian Inc.'s failed $1 billion bond sale, plunging stock in the project by 24%. This news is celebrated by community leaders and environmental advocates who've been organizing against Driftwood LNG for its threats to public health, the regional environment, and global climate.
WASHINGTON
Today, news broke that Shell and Vitol dropped their investments in Tellurian Inc's Driftwood LNG, one of the largest fracked gas export terminals proposed in Southwest Louisiana (SWLA). Shell's announcement comes just days after Tellurian Inc.'s failed $1 billion bond sale, plunging stock in the project by 24%. This news is celebrated by community leaders and environmental advocates who've been organizing against Driftwood LNG for its threats to public health, the regional environment, and global climate.
Driftwood LNG started site preparation in April 2022 without having reached a Final Investment Decision. The Calcasieu River in SWLA is one of the most industrialized regions in the country. There are already three operational LNG export terminals in Southwest Louisiana, and that number is supposed to increase to around 10, including Driftwood LNG. Community members have voiced serious concerns with Driftwood LNG regarding their pollution impacts on their health, safety from risks of explosions, and their local environment. Sierra Club and Healthy Gulf also filed a lawsuit in July 2022 challenging the Army Corps of Engineers' Section 404 permit for the facility as failing to avoid and compensate for impacts to wetlands, as required under the Clean Water Act.
Driftwood LNG has secured a $2.4 billion 10-year industrial tax exemption from the Calcasieu Parish School Board and Police Jury. The State of Louisiana also signed off on the tax exemption for the facility, though it was projected to only create 300 permanent jobs, according to the Louisiana Economic Development Secretary. Meanwhile, many Southwest Louisiana residents note that their schools, public infrastructure, and hurricane recovery programs are critically underfunded.
"Like most of the country, Southwest Louisiana has experienced record-high energy bills directly related to the enormous amount of natural gas that is already being exported to other countries. Our food and electricity bills soar while gas companies make record profits. We can not afford any more of these facilities: to our health, our coast, and our pocketbooks," said James Hiatt, Southwest Louisiana Coordinator with Louisiana Bucket Brigade. "We are still recovering from record-breaking natural disasters caused by our collective dependence on fossil fuels. Invest in SWLA - just not in more destructive and dangerous fossil fuel projects. Driftwood riskily began construction before the financing was even secured, and now are reaping results. Damaging our coasts and livelihoods for the profits of the few is a fool's errand."
"While the fight is not over, this is hopeful news. Driftwood LNG has one of the biggest tax breaks only to come and pollute our neighborhoods while our communities in Southwest Louisiana continue to be neglected. Just today I spoke with FEMA representatives who said that over 500 people will have to vacate their FEMA trailers next month, even though these families still haven't fully recovered from the destruction from Hurricanes Laura and Delta. Our priorities are backwards; we should be putting people first, not big polluters," said Roishetta Ozane, founder of the Vessel Project and Southwest Louisiana Organizing Director with Healthy Gulf. "From tax breaks to pollution and now to these recent financial downswings, we have all the evidence we need to understand that Driftwood will be a parasite on Southwest Louisiana. It's time that our public officials and the banks that support this awful project finally pull the plug on Driftwood."
"It has been clear from the beginning that Tellurian's Driftwood project is a bad investment. Tellurian has led investors on a roller coaster of reckless gambles and abrupt changes for years, burning through hundreds of millions in investor cash and yielding abysmal results," said Adele Shraiman, Representative for Sierra Club's Fossil Free Finance Campaign. "Their newest offering promised massive risk and very little stability for investors, so it's not surprising that investors have backed away from this deal. Driftwood LNG also faces several legal challenges and community opposition, so its financial future is tenuous at best. Banks and investors would be wise to reconsider support for other reckless LNG expansion projects."
"I'm relieved that this project may not happen as planned. We don't need more LNG export terminals. I just want people to be able to enjoy the land and water without the blight of industry, and all the pollution they impose on our communities," said Natalie McLendon, a resident of Southwest Louisiana.
The Sierra Club is the most enduring and influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. We amplify the power of our 3.8 million members and supporters to defend everyone's right to a healthy world.
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ICE Raid at Chicago Daycare Condemned as 'Domestic Terrorism'
ICE, said one organizer, "should rightly be called child abusers."
Nov 06, 2025
A parent at Rayito de Sol, a Spanish immersion daycare center in North Center, Chicago, summarized what took place there Wednesday when armed immigration agents entered the facility and arrested one of the childcare providers.
"What has happened today is domestic terrorism," said Maria Guzman said at a press conference held by federal and local lawmakers and "traumatized" members of the community. "It is a violation of our rights, it is a violation of these children's rights, it is a violation of these teachers' rights, who have a right to work in this country and care for our most vulnerable kids."
Guzman spoke alongside Democratic US Reps. Mike Quigley and Delia Ramirez, who represent communities in the Rayito de Sol vicinity, after at least three armed federal agents arrived at the center at about 7:00 am Wednesday when the worker, Diana Patricia Santillana Galeano, was arriving at work along with parents and children.
Alderman Matt Martin told Block Club Chicago that the agents had followed Galeano to her job and chased her into the building, where they "tore her away" from the children and pushed her coworkers as they tried to intervene. They then dragged her outside with her hands pulled behind her back, before at least one agent reentered the building and, according to Ramirez, went from room to room and demanded to see evidence that other teachers were legal residents.
It appears ICE agents are targeting preschools in Chicago today.
One woman was dragged out of Rayito de Sol Spanish Immersion Preschool on West Addison, while a father was reportedly taken from the Rayito de Sol Immersion Preschool on West Montrose, as he was dropping off his… pic.twitter.com/IwTjwSuWVa
— Jesus Freakin Congress (@TheJFreakinC) November 5, 2025
Galeano's arrest and the raid took place in front of children and parents. The center closed for the day as other teachers expressed fears about coming to work.
"This is what's happening right now via that force of terror called Homeland Security under [Secretary] Kristi Noem," said Ramirez. "I went into the daycare this morning as part of rapid response and I see teachers, I see parents crying. They're wondering, how could it be that the place where I send my children for eight hours when I go to work has been broken into by these masked agents with guns, running through the daycare?"
It was a hard day here in Chicago with ICE targeting a day care center. I wanted to take a moment to talk about it. pic.twitter.com/RCTKyYwJYY
— Congresswoman Delia C. Ramirez (@repdeliaramirez) November 6, 2025
Parents and officials said Galeano, who has children of her own, has permits to work in the US.
At the press conference, Quigley demanded Galeano's release and condemned President Donald Trump for ending protections that had been in place under the Biden administration which kept US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from conducting enforcement operations at schools, daycares, churches, hospitals, and shelters. He rejected claims by Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin that the agency "did not target a daycare."
"They can say they aren’t targeting a daycare, but that’s where they were this morning,” Quigley said. “They’re supposed to be going after the 'worst of the worst,' if they’re now trying to tell us that what’s left of the worst of the worst is someone with papers who’s educating kids at a daycare, then I think everything they say comes into question.”
"We need ICE out of our schools and out of Chicago!" added Quigley.
Jonathan Cohn, political director of Progressive Mass, said ICE "should be rightly called child abusers" for conducting a raid while children were present.
"It's bad on its own for its brutality toward adults, but they are traumatizing kids," he said.
Rayito de Sol parents organized a GoFundMe fundraiser to help with Galeano's legal fees; as of Thursday morning it had raised more than $64,000.
Alderperson Andre Vasquez called on all community leaders to join in local grassroots efforts to fight against ICE's raids across the Chicago area, in which the Department of Homeland Security has said more than 1,500 people have been detained since the Trump administration began its mass deportation campaign in the city, "Operation Midway Blitz."
After ICE agents raided a Chicago day care Wednesday morning and arrested a teacher that has citizenship documents, Alderperson Andre Vasquez says the city doesn't have time to wait for elections to fix the Trump administration's chaos and calls for Chicagoans to act now.
"We're… pic.twitter.com/gboYLpoSWu
— Heartland Signal (@HeartlandSignal) November 5, 2025
"We're all crossing our fingers and hoping for elections to change things, but we don't have that time right now," said Vasquez. "If you're anybody here in the city of Chicago and you don't have a whistle around your neck and you're not out here doing school patrol, please find time to do so. We need everyone here."
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'Blunt Corruption': Trump DOJ Hands Google an Antitrust Win After Tech Giant's Ballroom Donation
Alphabet, Google's parent company, is contributing $22 million to the president's ballroom project.
Nov 06, 2025
The US Justice Department has reportedly given the tech behemoth Alphabet a green light to acquire the cybersecurity firm Wiz after it was revealed that the Google parent company donated to President Donald Trump's $300 million ballroom project.
The merger deal is valued at over $30 billion and would mark Alphabet's largest acquisition to date, even as the company faces antitrust cases at the state and federal level. Wiz CEO Assaf Rappaport announced the Justice Department's decision on Wednesday at an event hosted by the Wall Street Journal.
The DOJ approval came after Bloomberg reported in June that the Justice Department's antitrust arm was reviewing whether Alphabet's acquisition of Wiz would illegally undermine competition. The following month, the Justice Department ousted two of its top antitrust officials amid internal conflict over shady corporate settlement deals.
Lee Hepner, an antitrust attorney and senior legal counsel for the American Economic Liberties Project, called the DOJ's clearing of Alphabet's Wiz acquisition "the kind of blunt corruption that most won't notice."
Hepner observed that news of the approval came shortly after the White House released a list of individuals and corporations that have pumped money into Trump's gaudy ballroom project. Google—which also donated to Trump's inauguration—was one of the prominent names on the list, alongside Amazon, Apple, and other major corporations.
Google is reportedly funneling $22 million to the ballroom project.
"These giant corporations aren't funding the Trump ballroom debacle out of a sense of civic pride," Robert Weissman, co-president of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, said earlier this week. "They have massive interests before the federal government and they undoubtedly hope to curry favor with, and receive favorable treatment from, the Trump administration."
"Millions to fund Trump's architectural whims are nothing compared to the billions at stake in procurement, regulatory, and enforcement decisions," he added.
According to a Public Citizen report published Monday, two-thirds of the 24 known corporate donors to Trump's ballroom project—including Google—are beneficiaries of recent government contracts.
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Amnesty Urges COP30 Attendees to 'Resist Aligning With' Trump Climate Crisis Denial
The group's leader called for rejecting "attempts to curtail funding for renewable energy projects" along with "the bullying efforts by the USA and others to weaken policies and regulations to combat climate change."
Nov 05, 2025
Nearly 10 months after President Donald Trump ditched the Paris Agreement for a second time, a leading human rights organization on Wednesday urged the remaining parties to the landmark treaty to defy his dangerous example when they come together next week for the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Belém, Brazil.
"Amnesty International is urging governments to resist aligning with the Trump administration's denial of the accelerating climate crisis and instead demonstrate true climate leadership," said the group's secretary general, Agnès Callamard, in a statement. "In the face of President Trump's rejection of science coupled with the intensified lobbying for fossil fuels, global leaders must redouble their efforts to take urgent climate action—with or without the US."
Callamard, who plans to attend COP30, stressed that "the global climate crisis is the single biggest threat to our planet and demands a befitting response. The effects of climate change are becoming more pronounced across the whole world. We confront increasingly frequent and severe storms, wildfires, droughts, and flooding, as well as sea-level rise that will destroy some small island states."
"COP30 in Brazil presents an opportunity for collective resistance against those trying to reverse years of commitments and efforts to keep global warming below 1.5°C," she continued, referring to a primary goal of the Paris Agreement. "The fact that levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere soared by a record amount last year should ring alarm bells for world leaders at COP30."
Further elevating fears for the future, the UN Environment Programme warned Tuesday that Paris Agreement parties' latest pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions—officially called Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)—could push global temperatures to 2.3-2.5°C above preindustrial levels, up to a full degree beyond the treaty's key target for this century.
Greenpeace demands world leaders agree on a global response plan at #COP30 as a new major UN report warned the global temperature is projected to rise to 2.3-2.5°C above pre-industrial era global temperatures, putting the Paris Agreement limit of 1.5°C at risk in the short-term.
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— Greenpeace International 🌍 (@greenpeace.org) November 4, 2025 at 11:20 AM
Oil Change International highlighted in a report released last week that the United States—which is responsible for the biggest share of planet-heating pollution since the Industrial Revolution—plus Australia, Canada, and Norway are now "overwhelmingly responsible for blocking global progress on phasing out oil and gas production."
The group's global policy lead, Romain Ioualalen, said that "10 years ago in Paris, countries promised to limit warming to 1.5°C, which is impossible without putting an end to fossil fuel expansion and production. The rich countries most responsible for the climate crisis have not kept that promise. Instead, they've poured more fuel on the fire and withheld the funds needed to put it out."
"The fact that a handful of rich Global North countries, led by the United States, have massively driven up their oil and gas production while people around the world suffer the consequences is a blatant mockery of justice and equity," Ioualalen added. He called on governments attending COP30 "to deliver a collective roadmap for equitable, differentiated fossil fuel phaseout dates, and address the systemic barriers preventing Global South countries from transitioning to renewable energy, including finance."
Some experts are concerned that Trump—who's pursuing a pro-fossil fuel agenda that includes but is far from limited to exiting the Paris Agreement—may interfere with the talks, even though a White House official confirmed to Reuters last week that he doesn't plan to send a delegation to Belém.
The official said that Trump made his administration's views on global climate action clear in his September speech at the UN General Assembly—during which the president said the fossil fuel-driven crisis was "the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world," and the scientific community's predictions about the global emergency "were wrong" and "were made by stupid people."
Pointing to Trump's global tariff war that was debated before the US Supreme Court on Wednesday, the official added that "the president is directly engaging with leaders around the world on energy issues, which you can see from the historic trade deals and peace deals that all have a significant focus on energy partnerships."
As CNN reported Tuesday:
This practice of linking trade and climate so closely is an innovation of the Trump administration, said Kelly Sims Gallagher, dean of the Fletcher School at Tufts University who worked on US climate negotiations with China for the Obama administration.
In the absence of US leadership, she said that China, which is the world's top emitter, may seek to assume more of a prominent, steering role at the talks. The European Union is also likely to take a strong role, though internal rifts have emerged within the EU regarding how aggressively to cut its own emissions.
While Gallagher and other experts who spoke with CNN don't necessarily expect that COP30 will feature the same kind of disruptive behavior that Trump engaged in during last month's International Maritime Organization meeting to delay a new set of global regulations to slash shipping industry emissions, they acknowledged that it is possible. Already, the Tufts professor suggested, Trump's abandonment of the Paris treaty appears to be having an impact.
"I think there's an undeniable fact, which is that with the US withdrawal for a second time, it's definitely seeming to undermine ambition," Gallagher said. "I think it's just getting harder to make the case that global ambition is going to rise without pretty substantial engagement from the United States."
Despite not sending a high-level delegation to the COP30 Climate Summit in Brazil, the presence of the US will still be felt by negotiators there. The US will be the elephant in the room, and could seek to disrupt the talks from afar, depending on how they're trending... www.cnn.com/2025/11/04/c...
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— Andrew Freedman (@afreedma.bsky.social) November 4, 2025 at 9:42 AM
Callamard argued Wednesday that those attending COP30 "must push back against attempts to curtail funding for renewable energy projects and resist the bullying efforts by the USA and others to weaken policies and regulations to combat climate change."
"Humanity can win if states commit at COP30 to a full, fast, fair, and funded fossil-fuel phase-out and just transition to sustainable energy for all, in all sectors, as recently confirmed by the International Court of Justice's recent advisory opinion," she said. "These commitments must go hand-in-hand with a significant injection of climate finance, in the form of grants, not loans, from states that are the worst culprits for greenhouse gas emissions."
"Crucially, states must take steps to protect climate activists and environmental defenders," the Amnesty leader added. "This is the only way to secure climate justice and protect the human rights of billions of people."
According to an annual Global Witness report published in September, at least 142 people were killed and four were confirmed missing last year for "bravely speaking out or taking action to defend their rights to land and a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment," bringing the total to at least 2,253 land defenders slaughtered or disappeared since the group started tracking such cases in 2012.
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