Climate Changed

The Fossil Fuels Project That Pits Trump’s Base Against Itself

  • Methanol needs government help but would spur red state jobs
  • Debate pits Republican backers and Breitbart against Tea Party
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For a landmark fossil-fuel program deep in Trump country, it’s not environmentalists who are the biggest threat. It may be Donald Trump himself.

The $3.8 billion project in Lake Charles, Louisiana, would take waste from oil refining and turn it into synthetic natural gas while capturing emissions. Those products would be turned into high-value chemicals like methanol and hydrogen. Carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas blamed for global warming, would be injected into the Earth to stimulate oil production.