The Biden administration on Friday initiated a pause on how it assesses U.S. liquefied natural gas exports to nonfree trade agreement countries, an announcement that comes amid mounting political pressure from environmental groups and Democrats in Congress to consider climate impacts of such projects.
The pause will allow the administration to evaluate the effects on the climate and environment of exporting such a “sizable” amount of LNG, senior administration officials said on a call previewing the announcement.
It will also allow the administration to consider the economic and national security impacts of new LNG export facilities.
Though Biden administration officials stopped short of giving a time frame for the pause, they said it could take “some months” to update before being published for public comment.
The United States has risen to become the world’s No. 1 exporter of LNG, with its capacity projected to double by the end of the decade, according to estimates from the Energy Information Administration.
The U.S. has seven active LNG export terminals and is in the process of building five additional facilities with a baseload export capacity of more than 70 million tons per year.
It has also risen to become a key supplier of LNG to allies in Asia and the European Union, especially following Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The Biden administration’s decision “prioritizes the wishes of radical liberals over U.S. energy security and the security of our allies,” House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) said in a statement, describing the pause as “another gift to Putin.”
Meanwhile, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Joe Manchin (D-WV) said his panel will investigate the move to determine if it is “just another political ploy to pander to keep-it-in-the-ground climate activists at the expense of American workers, businesses and our allies in need.”
Apart from Manchin, though, Democrats in Congress have pressed the Energy Department to reconsider the criteria it uses to approve new LNG export terminals as LNG export capacity balloons.
In November, a group of 60 lawmakers led by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) urged the Department of Energy to update how it determines whether LNG export projects are in the “public interest,” voicing concerns that the current method of approval “does not fully or accurately consider how LNG exports negatively impact the climate, environmental justice communities, or increase domestic energy prices.”
To date, the lawmakers noted, the Department of Energy has never rejected an LNG export application on these bases, arguing that its “case-by-case approach to approvals ignores the aggregate impact that the explosive growth in U.S. LNG exports is having on climate, communities, and our economy.”
Meanwhile, industry groups and Republicans have argued this growth is needed for U.S. energy security and to help allies avoid an energy supply crisis.
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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) criticized the Biden administration’s decision to pause approval of the planned CP2 export terminal in Louisiana to consider climate concerns, arguing that doing so “amount[s] to a functional ban on new LNG export permits” in the U.S.
“The administration’s war on affordable domestic energy has been bad news for American workers and consumers alike,” he said during floor remarks.
