Federal judge orders Biden administration to resume LNG exports

Liquefied natural gas company Cheniere operates the Sabine Pass LNG terminal in Port Arthur, Texas, in this November 15, 2016, file photo. James Nielsen/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images

A federal judge on Monday ordered the Biden administration to resume permitting new liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities, following the government’s halt in a process to analyze the export’s impact on climate change, national security and the economy.

As The Guardian reports, a federal judge in Louisiana has ruled that the administration cannot delay consideration of LNG export projects while a legal dispute spanning 16 states is resolved in federal court.

Trump-appointed U.S. District Court Judge James Cain Jr. granted a coalition of states a preliminary injunction halting the delays.

“We continue to strive to make decisions based on the best available economic and environmental analyses, supported by solid science,” White House spokesman Angelo Fernández Hernández said in an email to The Associated Press.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has expressed disagreement with the ruling and is in the process of assessing next steps, meaning it is unlikely any of the LNG projects will be granted fast-track consideration, The Guardian reported.

In January, the Biden administration delayed consideration of new LNG export terminals in the U.S., a move welcomed by environmentalists because growing fossil fuel exports contribute to planet-warming emissions that are driving climate change.

Louisiana, Texas, Alaska, Wyoming and West Virginia are among the states that have sued the government to block the suspension of LNG exports, arguing that the administration’s decision violates federal law, including the U.S. Constitution, by banning exports to countries with which the U.S. does not have a free trade agreement.

“For all the pauses, or lack thereof, the science is clear: no robust analysis that takes into account the climate and environmental damage caused by LNG exports could show that these deadly facilities are in the public interest,” said Craig Segall, vice president of environmental group Evergreen Action, as reported by The Guardian.

Current LNG export authorizations to countries that do not have a free trade agreement now amount to more than 45 percent of U.S. domestic natural gas production, according to DOE data. The agency added that based on current LNG export capacity, the U.S. will remain the largest LNG exporter by a large margin for at least the next six years.

“In every corner of the country and the world, people are suffering the devastating impacts of climate change,” President Joe Biden said in January, according to The New York Times. “This pause in new LNG approvals exposes the climate crisis for what it is: the existential threat of our time.”

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