Roishetta Ozane is a longtime community organizer living in close proximity to a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility known as Calcasieu Pass (CP2) near Louisiana’s Gulf Coast. She was interviewed by Patagonia regarding her activism against CP2. Originally from Ruleville, Mississippi, Ozane highlights both the town’s and her own family’s history of activism, as well as her personal journey of overcoming structural oppression. Later in life, she founded a mutual aid organization, The Vessel Project, which provides financial assistance to community members in need—helping them navigate and overcome bureaucratic obstacles. Ozane explains that this continuous support enables the community to feel uplifted in their ongoing struggle for environmental justice. During the Biden administration, the United States became the leading international exporter of what Ozane calls “LMG,” or liquified methane gas—emphasizing the unnatural process of extraction. She underscores the adverse effects of pollution and environmental degradation on human health, which she witnesses firsthand in her own children developing chronic illnesses. Infrastructural problems, already strained by climate change, often have more severe impacts on towns like Mossville—founded by formerly enslaved people—whose residents were later displaced by the LNG industry and received little financial compensation compared to wealthier, White communities. Ozane calls for the direct involvement of frontline communities in future negotiations and for the reinstatement of the ban on LNG exports and other fossil fuels. She envisions successful resistance to fossil fuel infrastructure through community strengthening, emphasizing the importance of not viewing CP2 as an isolated issue, but as part of a broader structural problem.
