US Federal Judge James Cain Jr. Invalidates Biden Administration’s Freeze on New LNG Exports – American Press

U.S. federal judge James Cain Jr. of the Western District of Louisiana issued a preliminary injunction Monday in favor of Louisiana in the state’s lawsuit against President Joe Biden and the U.S. Department of Energy over their decision to halt new exports of liquefied natural gas to countries not covered by the free trade agreement.

Judge Cain’s order lifts the suspension of LNG exports with immediate effect.

In his ruling, Judge Cain stated: “The DOE’s decision to halt the process of issuing LNG export permits to non-FTA countries appears to be entirely devoid of basis or logic and is perhaps a revelation of ideocracy.”

Judge Cain also asked federal lawyers: “Why then was there a change from the usual practice? And why now?”

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill led a coalition of 16 states that filed a lawsuit to lift the stay.

Louisiana was joined by Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.

“This is great news for Louisiana, our 16 state partners in this fight, and the country. As Judge Cain noted in his ruling, our state is at risk of losing approximately $61 billion in infrastructure because of this illegal outage. LNG has a huge and positive impact on Louisiana, providing clean energy to the world and good jobs right here at home. The people of Louisiana are proud to power this country and the world. This is a great victory for American energy,” Murrill said.