Biden pauses LNG export terminal approvals after sharp rise in exports

The administration of US President Joe Biden announced today that it is pausing approvals for new terminals to export liquefied natural gas (LNG). Biden explains the decision in a statement chiefly as an effort to tackle the „climate crisis“. Environmental activists had called for intervention, the AP reports, linking the move to the upcoming US presidential election.

LNG exports from the United States have surged in recent years, and after Russia’s attack on Ukraine the country became the world’s largest exporter of liquefied gas. According to the White House, roughly half of exports went to Europe last year, and the Biden administration assures allies that supplies will continue through existing infrastructure.

It says approvals for new projects need to be paused because the criteria the Department of Energy uses in these cases are outdated. „They no longer adequately account for factors such as potential increases in prices for American consumers and manufacturers… or the latest analyses of the impact of greenhouse gas emissions,“ the White House explained.

In a separate statement, President Biden highlights the measure’s climate aspect in particular and says he considers climate change an „existential threat“. He also accuses the Republican Party, led by his predecessor Donald Trump, of deliberately denying the urgency of the „climate crisis“. „My administration will not stand by,“ he says.

Nevertheless, US fossil fuel production has risen during Biden’s presidency. This runs counter to his stated climate ambitions, which include a pledge to halve US greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. With his decision on LNG exports, the president has now met a demand from climate activists, whom he angered last year by approving a huge project to extract oil in Alaska.

The announcement came as a full-fledged campaign for the November presidential election is already effectively underway in the United States. The Democratic and Republican primaries have only just begun, but it is already almost certain that Biden and Trump will face each other again. Climate policy is one way for Biden to distinguish himself from Trump, who questions the scientific consensus on climate change and has said that, if he returns to the presidency, it will be „drill, drill, drill“.

While environmentalists welcomed today’s announcement, representatives of the energy industry condemned it. „This is a win for Russia and a loss for America’s allies, the American labor market and global climate efforts,“ said the American Petroleum Institute, a lobbying group representing the interests of fossil fuel producers.