The White House in Washington DC on Friday, January 26, 2024, announced a pause on all liquified natural gas (LNG) export approvals by the US Department of Energy. Government officials are beginning a long-overdue process for incorporating climate and environmental harm into their analysis of these projects.
The Department of Energy (DOE) will conduct a review during the pause that will look at the economic and environmental impacts of projects seeking approval to export LNG to Europe and Asia where the fuel is in hot demand.
The review will take months and then will be open to public comment which will take more time, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told reporters in a teleconference.
Biden said in a statement: “During this period, we will take a hard look at the impacts of LNG exports on energy costs, America’s energy security, and our environment.”
The pause “sees the climate crisis for what it is: the existential threat of our time,” said Biden, a Democrat.
Companies and countries in Europe rely on steady supplies of LNG from the U.S., which became world’s top LNG exporter last year, as the region tries to wean itself off pipelined gas from Russia after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. U.S. allies in Asia also covet LNG as they seek to slow coal consumption.
The 17 proposed LNG export projects have seen widespread opposition from frontline and environmental groups, as LNG releases methane into the atmosphere, which has nearly an 80 times higher warming capacity than carbon in its first 20 years in the atmosphere.
US oil and gas CEOs have been exporting record amounts of LNG overseas, and the US government has tried to use international energy needs to justify expanding LNG exports.
Yet earlier this week, 60 EU lawmakers told President Joe Biden that they don’t need more US liquified natural gas and he shouldn’t use them as an excuse to expand exportation.
This news comes just one week after the Americas Energy Summit, an LNG convening to promote energy sources backed by the fossil fuel industry, and six weeks after COP28.
Environmentalists hailed the move and canceled sit-in protest planned at DOE headquarters next month.
“This is a milestone,” said Roishetta Ozane, founder and director of The Vessel Project of Louisiana and a leading voice in the opposition to the LNG build-out, who said her family’s health is affected by these terminals. “It sets the stage for potential rejections and slows down progress of these projects.”
Michelle Weindling, political director of the youth-based Sunrise Movement, said the pause would help Biden get support from young voters in November.
“It needs to be seen that leaders are leading boldly and unapologetically to solve this crisis,” she said.
Swaths of U.S. industry, ranging from chemicals, steel, food and agriculture, also oppose unrestricted exports of U.S. gas, saying it raises risks for fuel prices and reliability.
Candice Fortin, 350.org US Campaign Manager, responds: “This is a major step in the right direction, and a huge win for the climate movement and our frontline partners on the US Gulf Coast. We trust that when the US government reviews the climate and environmental justice harms, they will fully reject all LNG export projects, because anything less would reveal this pause to be nothing more than a strategic and self-serving PR campaign.
“The harmful effects of fracked gas on health and climate are not in question. Both frontline communities and scientific data have been communicating these clearly for decades, and there is much harm that cannot be undone. But the US government has finally taken a major step towards the side of the people instead of industry profit. That is both historic, and it shouldn’t need to be. We celebrate this move in the direction of justice and look forward to celebrating it growing.”
