This is the Sunday story.
I'm Ayesha Rascoe.
What if I told you that the US is the largest exporter of natural gas in the world?
It started with a fracking boom in the mid two thousands.
We, it turns out, are the Saudi Arabia of natural gas.
We've got a lot of it.
A lot of it.
Enough to export.
Before NPR, I spent six years as an energy reporter, and a big part of my job was covering the promises of natural gas.
And we all know this fuel, it's what you might use to cook your food or to heat your house.
There's a form of this gas called liquefied natural gas, or LNG.
And that's when you take natural gas and supercool it, reducing its volume to a much smaller size, which makes it possible to load it up onto giant ships headed to consumers across the world.
The promise of LNG was that it could be a bridge fuel for the US and the world, taking us closer to a future reliant on renewable energy.
It's been heralded as safe, clean and efficient.
Today on the Sunday story, we look at what that promise has meant for one community in Louisiana where much of the Lng export industry is based and how the promises of LNG have not reflected reality.
I'm joined by two reporters based in New Orleans, Halle Parker and Carlisle Calhoun.
In their recent series, all gassed up.
They follow the journey of LNG from the Gulf coast and on to Europe and Japan, where much of that gas ends up.
Our conversation when we come back, this.
Message comes from NPR's sponsor Merrell.