All Gassed Up is a one-hour radio special investigating the global expansion of liquified natural gas, or LNG. Led by Carlyle Calhoun and Halle Parker of the podcast Sea Change (WWNO, WRKF), this program follows American natural gas around the world, unraveling the driving forces behind the massive buildout of LNG export plants along the Gulf Coast and the stakes for the planet. In December, the Department of Energy released a dire study exposing why increasing LNG exports will hurt American consumers, communities, and our climate.
KUNC will air this special on Friday, Feb. 28 at 8 p.m. You can hear it on 91.5 KUNC or here at kunc.org.
Right now in the US, there is a gas boom – a liquified natural gas boom. The U.S. now produces more LNG than any other country in the world. And even more could be unleashed under the new administration.
The battle over the future of energy has never been hotter. And LNG is at the center of the fight. The Department of Energy released a highly controversial draft study in mid-December 2024 revealing that increasing exports of LNG will have detrimental impacts on American consumers, communities, and the climate. However, oil and gas companies are reaping profits, and the new administration pledges to expedite increasing drilling and new export terminals.
This deeply reported, globe-trotting piece of audio journalism exposes the enormous scale of an ongoing global expansion of the market for methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. We reveal that the methane industry has outsized impacts at the local level — to the environment as well as low-income communities and communities of color affected throughout the supply chain — and on the planetary scale.
“All Gassed Up” explores whether LNG is a necessary bridge fuel to help combat climate change, as fossil fuel proponents claim. The audience goes on a journey with the cohosts from the Gulf Coast to Europe and on to Asia to learn that, for many in the gas industry, natural gas is not a “bridge” at all. It’s a destination.
Character-driven storytelling, relatable language, and suspense help listeners understand a wonky issue that has huge climate and economic implications, whether you live on the Gulf Coast— the epicenter of the buildout — or not.