"Plans for a new half-billion-dollar liquefied natural gas export terminal on the Delaware River in South Jersey were greenlighted by the Delaware River Basin Commission on Wednesday. But opponents say they will challenge the LNG project in federal court, and they’ve gained the support of Hollywood stars like Leonardo DeCaprio and Mark Ruffalo, along with climate leaders like Bill McKibben.
One of the people who testified at the hearing was Vanessa Keegan, who lives in the small Gloucester County community of Gibbstown. Keegan and her boyfriend, who have three sons between them and work in the restaurant industry, saved up enough to buy their home just a few blocks away from the planned export terminal more than a year ago. She learned about the terminal from a neighbor.
“We’re killing our planet. That’s the big existential thing,” said Keegan, who since the pandemic quit her job so she could help with remote learning for her 3-year-old son and 10-year-old niece. “But me personally, you are putting my family in danger. If an accident happens with [liquefied natural gas], we don’t get to show up the next day and say, ‘Look, I told you so.’ We won’t be here. My neighbors won’t be here. This neighborhood will not be here. That’s terrifying.”"
Susan Phillips reports for StateImpact Pennsylvania/NPR December 9, 2020.