Locals Ask: If Chubb No Longer Insures CP1, Can It Stop Insuring Other Harmful Methane Terminals?
CAMERON, LA — An insurance certificate obtained through a public information act request for Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass LNG reveals Chubb is no longer issuing its $1.5 billion primary insurance policy on the methane export terminal. The cessation of Chubb’s policy comes after fisherfolk and their allies launched a targeted campaign on Chubb’s CEO and Board decrying the devastating impact methane terminals cause to their livelihoods and health in Cameron, Louisiana. Their campaign included disrupting Chubb’s signature golf tournament with a banner drop and fake money thrown into the executive skyboxes.
Is this another scandal around Venture Global? The company is proposing the expansion of Calcasieu Pass LNG during a fossil fuel glut and fierce resistance from exploited communities. It had the largest IPO flop in US history when it wiped out $39 billion; failed to deliver $3.5 billion of product; was fined for permit violations by ignoring environmental rules, and faces class action lawsuits from its employees. As insurers shuffle around the project, it sends a signal to other insurers and investors that it deserves a deeper due diligence.
Communities living in the wake of the Calcasieu Pass LNG methane export terminal name the flaring, toxic emissions, and impacts on the local landscape as devastating. Promised jobs are often given to out-of-state workers who disappear once a facility is built, and the remaining jobs require expertise not offered to local residents. Ceasing insurance of facilities after community dialogue with the insurance company could be a pattern for Chubb, as it quietly stopped underwriting the Rio Grande LNG project last year and dropped dozens of major oil and gas clients that didn’t align with its climate and conservation commitments. Fisherfolk are asking that Chubb drop Cameron LNG by June and hope that once the methane terminals stop operation, their sea catch will get back to what it was 10 years ago.
Insurance companies pride themselves on managing risks, yet by underwriting methane gas and other fossil fuels they harm their bottom line – for example; last summer US home insurers suffered the worst loss this century due to climate disasters. The insurance industry driving uninsurability by profiting from dirty energy is foolhardy at best. On top of that, more fossil fuels means locking in decades of polluted air and water for surrounding communities. Chubb’s departure from this project makes industry sense and is a hopeful pattern that the company will stop insuring methane export terminals altogether.
“Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass LNG is the one that made it so the shrimp don’t come in anymore. The more companies leave it, the better. Insurance is supposed to make communities safe, and I’m glad Chubb acts on that by dumping dirty energy. We need to stop all this methane coming in, and get back to what we’re good at here in Cameron – shrimping, oystering, crabbing, and helping people. I feel hopeful that Chubb will do right by us.” – Solomon Williams, Jr., Oyster fisherman in Cameron, LA
“We can’t afford insurance for our businesses. But big insurers have no problem insuring these polluting facilities next to our homes and businesses in the same hurricane highway we live in. Fishing always exists on the other side of a hurricane, but we know the collapse that LNG causes within our ecosystems. I’m glad Chubb dropped them, and I think they’ll drop Cameron LNG too because we told them how bad these facilities are for our livelihood and families.” – Captain Ray Mallet, Cameron Parish shrimp and oyster boat captain
“This is a win for Louisiana fishing families that have been fighting methane terminals for years. Now Chubb must take the next step of becoming a true climate leader and stop insuring Cameron LNG and all methane.” – Ethan Nuss, Senior Campaigner, Rainforest Action Network
“Venture Global LNG is hazardous to the health of its surrounding communities. As our climate continues to destabilize, these terminals will pose a greater risk of catastrophe from storm damage. It is wise of Chubb to recognize a bad bet when they see one and continue to pull out of these poorly operating facilities in key biological areas and climate-vulnerable locations.” – Alyssa Portaro, Director, Habitat Recovery Project