Texas Campaign for the Environment (TCE) deputy representative Jeffrey Jacoby is interviewing on the roof of a building in Seongsu-dong, Seoul on the 1st. Reporter Ki Min-do key@hani.co.kr
“If you ask people who see pillars of flame (mixed with soot) coming out of liquefied natural gas (LNG/LNG) power plants every day, they will know that LNG can never be a clean fuel.” In an interview with the Hankyoreh held at a conference hall in Seongsu-dong, Seoul on the 1st, Vice President of the Texas Campaign for the Environment (TCE) Jeffrey Giorcoby said, “LNG is notorious for emitting large amounts of methane among greenhouse gases.” . The Texas Environmental Campaign is a grassroots civic group that opposes the expansion of the fossil fuel industry in the US state of Texas and neighboring Louisiana. Since June 19, Vice President Jacoby has been building solidarity with civil society organizations by touring Asian regions such as Korea, Japan, and the Philippines, which are major demand areas for the US LNG industry. LNG is a ‘fossil fuel’ that emits the most carbon dioxide after coal and oil. The greenhouse effect of methane, the main component of LNG, reaches 80 times that of carbon dioxide. However, many countries, including Korea, refer to LNG as liquefied ‘natural’ gas and regard it as an energy source that acts as a ‘stepping stone’ until it is converted to renewable energy that emits almost no greenhouse gases. In fact, in the 10th Basic Plan for Electricity Supply and Demand, the government reduced coal power generation from 40.2 GW (gigawatt) this year to 27.1 GW in 2036, while increasing LNG power generation from 43.5 GW to 62.9 GW. 28 coal power plants that were closed were converted into LNG power plants. Accordingly, LNG import terminals are currently expanding in Chungnam and Gyeongnam. “I don’t know if we can call the newly built LNG infrastructure to be used for 30 to 50 years (until we replace it with a carbon-free energy source) a ‘bridge,’” said Jacoby, vice president. We cannot achieve the desired climate goals through this method.” In particular, the United States is one of Korea’s major LNG importers. According to a report titled ‘The current state of the Korea-US LNG value chain and the role of Korean public finance’ written by Dong-jae Oh, a researcher at Climate Solutions, Korea imported the most LNG from the US last year, following Australia and Qatar. In particular, exports from LNG terminals in Texas and Louisiana accounted for 96%, and Korean public finance supported for these export terminals amounted to 2.47 trillion won. Referring to the fire accident at the Freeport Terminal in Texas in June of last year, he said, “At the time, LNG exports were not carried out due to an explosion, and supply decreased worldwide, causing prices to soar.” It makes no sense,” he said. In addition, he pointed out that “the LNG and petrochemical industries (in which Korean public finance was invested) have been developing at the expense of Native Americans and communities of color in Texas while destroying the environment for many years.” Vice President Jacoby emphasized that it is impossible to escape the disaster situation caused by extreme climate change without escaping the fossil fuel industry. He said, “The Texas heat wave in July this year is breaking records, but in the winter two years ago, the power grid collapsed due to a severe cold wave. “There is clear evidence that climate change is directly affecting the people of Texas,” he said. He urged that instead of increasing dependence on environmentally destructive LNG under the pretext of stepping stones, we should focus on preparing infrastructure to stably supply solar and wind power. “We don’t even need to import sun and wind,” Jacoby said. Reporter Ki Min-do key@hani.co.kr
2023-08-02 23:00:19
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