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In March 2020, Andy Gheorghiu made Pieridae Energy’s financial dilemma public. Together with fellow activists, the environmental campaigner wrote a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau, Nova Scotia’s Premier Iain Rankin and other Canadian politicians. In the letter, they asked the politicians to deny Pieridae Energy’s secret request for almost USD 1 billion of funding from the Nova Scotian government.¹⁴⁵²¹ The activists had found the information in an internal company presentation.¹⁴⁵²⁵

After the information became public, Nova Scotia decided not to fund the project.¹⁴⁵²⁷ In response, Pieridae Energy threatened Andy Gheorghiu and the other activists with legal action. The company was ready to take them to court simply for making its need for money public.¹⁴⁵²⁹

Pieridae Energy’s funding problems just didn't go away. Pieridae Energy signed a 20-year supply contract with German energy utility Uniper in 2013 to export LNG. Due to its poor financial situation, Pieridae Energy had to amend the contract at least five times.¹⁴⁵³¹ In November 2023, Pieridae officially abandoned the project.¹⁹⁴⁴⁶ In July 2024, Pieridae announced it had sold the shelved project on.¹⁹⁴⁴⁷

Pieridae Energy never clarified where the gas for Goldboro LNG would come from. It has made different claims, such as sourcing gas from Alberta or importing fracked gas from Pennsylvania in the US via the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline.^{14539145411454314545} Pipelines are among the largest source of methane emissions. Along the entire LNG supply chain, methane leakages contribute up to half of LNG’s greenhouse gas footprint.^1944819449 Leakages from methane transportation emit methane plumes and poisonous vapor in inhabited areas. The emitted gases cause heart diseases, asthma and cancer.¹⁹⁴⁵⁰ This directly effects Indigenous people, like the Mi'kmaq First Nations people, and wildlife that live along the pipeline route from the Northeastern USA to Canada’s Atlantic coast.

The gas running through the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline is fracked gas.¹⁹⁴⁵¹ Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is a controversial oil and gas extraction method for a number of reasons. The process consumes massive amounts of water, leaks methane and releases poisonous chemicals into the environment. The chemicals can poison the groundwater and cause birth defects in people and animals that live close-by.¹⁹⁴⁵³ Fracking has also been known to cause earthquakes.¹⁵³⁸³ Fracking is the most common way of extracting gas in Alberta, which is otherwise known for its destructive tar sands production.

Local and international activists have been protesting the accelerated oil and gas buildout across Canada for the past few years. Countless megaprojects are surfacing as Canada rushes to export its fossil fuels. Activists have blockaded train lines to protest against LNG terminals.¹⁴⁵⁵³ This pressure forced American investor Warren Buffet not to fund the Saguenay LNG Terminal in Quebec in 2020. The intense opposition against the project became a reputational risk for his asset management firm.^1455514557 Activists succeeded in showing the nearby Goldboro LNG project posed similar risks to investors. Now, they fight to show the same lessons apply to other oil and gas projects. Pieridae Energy used an army of lawyers to silence those who spoke up against Goldboro LNG. Still, their voices of resistance carried across the globe. Investors beware: if more LNG resurfaces, expect resistance.