CAMERON, La.— The Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club sued the Trump administration today for approving the proposed Delfin LNG deepwater export terminal 40 miles off the Louisiana coast. The project would be the first offshore LNG export project in the United States.

The lawsuit challenges the U.S. Department of Transportation’s license approval for failing to fully assess the project’s climate and environmental harms.

The Trump administration announced the project’s approval in March, citing an executive order on expedited fossil fuel permitting. The approval contradicts an April 2024 order from the same agency denying issuance of a final license and demanding that Delfin submit an amended application. It said the project’s initial 2017 approval was out of date based on significant design, operational and ownership changes that have never been evaluated.

“It’s outrageous that the Trump administration fast-tracked this project with no review of serious environmental risks,” said Lauren Parker, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute. “Nothing about this project is in the public interest, from increases in consumer costs to public health harms. We’re in an affordability crisis, a climate crisis and an extinction crisis and this project will make all three worse. The law demands that this project be stopped.”

Since Delfin LNG’s initial approval in 2017, new species like the Rice’s whale — which inhabit waters that would be directly affected by the facility and the massive tankers that would service it — have been recognized and listed as threatened or endangered.

“Delfin LNG’s only purpose is to exploit our coasts and the climate for the personal benefits of corporations and executives with practically no benefit to the public,” said Devorah Ancel, a senior attorney at the Sierra Club. “Without proper review and public engagement, the Trump administration has refused to consider the impacts of this project on frontline communities of the Gulf, endangered whales, rare turtles, and vital Gulf of Mexico ecosystems. We look forward to bringing these voices to the forefront of the fight against this catastrophic project.”

In the decade since Delfin LNG submitted its initial license application, environmental groups submitted comment letters to the agency underscoring that the project runs contrary to national interests. These highlighted the project’s harms and the increasing threats of nearby expansive fossil fuel infrastructure development. Changes to the surrounding environment and species’ imperiled status would also worsen Delfin’s impacts. All must be evaluated before any final licensing decision.

“Our organization stands with the fishermen of Cameron Parish, whose livelihoods, culture, and waters are being sacrificed without consent,” said Alyssa Portaro, director of Habitat Recovery Project. “For years, these coastal families have witnessed dwindling catches, rising storm damage, and polluted marshes — all while being excluded from project review and licensing decisions that determine their future. The approval of Delfin LNG, without a single public hearing or updated environmental review, is not just a legal failure — it’s a moral one. Habitat Recovery Project will continue working alongside the fisherfolk to hold decision-makers accountable and protect the Gulf for generations to come.”

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, pursuant to the Deepwater Port Act.