Donald Trump's election win revives LNG possibility in RGV

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (ValleyCentral)—The new presidential administration is expected to support more Liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the Rio Grande Valley. President-elect Donald Trump recently outlined plans to cut regulations and support Rio Grande LNG and other energy sources in the United States.

Donald Trump's plans involve the Rio Bravo pipeline and Rio Grande LNG projects, which recently had their permits vacated by the U.S. Court of Appeals after a lawsuit filed by environmental groups.

Brownsville Mayor John Cowen and other Valley leaders spoke against the ruling in support of LNG last week. They say these projects would create over 5,000 jobs and help low-to-moderate-income families. Mcallen Mayor Javier Villalobos said the impact of these projects stretches far beyond Cameron County.

"It means a better economy. A better economy means… what? We can lower, hopefully, our taxes because of an increased tax base. So it has a domino effect," said Villalobos.

Bekah Hinojosa is the co-founder of the South Texas Environmental Justice Network which sued Rio Grande LNG over concerns of pollution. She said Trump’s de-regulation plans would harm the environment and laid out the risks.

"These facilities would span almost 2,000 acres and would include storage tanks, flare stacks, and pipelines. Fracking has been known to cause earthquakes across Texas, pollute groundwater, release, toxic emissions, volatile organic compounds particulate matter."

Hinojosa added that despite their victory in the lawsuit, their legal battle isn’t over with Donald Trump on the horizon. "We’re not backing down. We will continue to make our voices heard. Just this week we were reviewing other legal strategies that we can take. We’re planning community meetings," she said.

Rio Grande LNG filed a petition for a rehearing of their vacated permits. So far, there has been no response yet from the Court of Appeals.