The Bridge to Nowhere

We kicked off this season of Sea Change with a globetrotting journey. A quest to understand a booming new industry on the Gulf Coast: liquified natural gas, or LNG.

In a historic move, the Biden Administration froze any decisions on new gas export projects…until it could study how shipping so much American gas overseas could affect the economy, health, and the climate.

Well, that long-awaited study was just released. The findings? Increasing LNG exports is bad news for American consumers, communities, and our climate. But that might not mean much to the new administration determined to drill baby, drill.

One of the hottest flashpoints in this fight over the future of LNG centers around whether it's a climate solution, as industry claims, or actually a carbon bomb. Today, we talk to leading scientist Dr. Robert Howarth about his recent study revealing that LNG is worse for the climate than coal. 

This episode was hosted by Halle Parker and Carlyle Calhoun. Our sound designer is Emily Jankowski. And our theme music is by Jon Batiste.

For more about LNG, check out our 3-part series, All Gassed Up, or our 1-hour special. You can find Sea Change wherever you get your podcasts. 

Sea Change is a WWNO and WRKF production. We are part of the NPR Podcast Network and distributed by PRX. Sea Change is made possible with major support from the Gulf Research Program of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. WWNO’s Coastal Desk is supported by the Walton Family Foundation, the Meraux Foundation, and the Greater New Orleans Foundation.