Biden eyes rollback of LNG exports that critics say risk abandoning European allies

The Biden administration is reportedly mulling stricter climate change assessments for liquefied natural gas exports amid blowback from Democrats and environmentalists over the fossil fuel’s booming industry.

It’s a move that Republicans and the oil and natural gas sector fear would jeopardize America’s status as the world’s biggest LNG exporter, and kneecap European allies dependent on the energy source as an alternative to Russian natural gas.

“Two years ago, President Biden committed to sending American LNG overseas to our allies, yet recent reports indicate the administration may abandon that promise,” said American Petroleum Institute President and CEO Mike Sommers at the lobbying group’s annual State of American Energy conference in Washington. “Halting U.S. LNG approvals would put our allies at risk.”

The U.S. became the world’s largest LNG exporter last year, surpassing No. 2 Australia and No. 3 Qatar, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The U.S. provides LNG mostly to Europe, where exports more than doubled from 2021 to 2023 thanks to allies switching from Russian gas because of the Ukraine war. 

The Department of Energy is mulling new climate change criteria for approval of LNG export projects, an idea Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of energy-rich Louisiana called “short-sighted” and “absurd.”

“[The Department of Energy] thinks somehow, if they don’t allow the exporting of that clean natural gas, that somehow China’s emissions and India’s emissions are paradoxically going to go down,” Mr. Cassidy said at the API event. “It is absurd.”

The Energy Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Republican lawmakers and the energy industry pitch natural gas as the cheaper and cleaner alternative to coal that heavy-polluting countries like China and India could most benefit from.

Democrats note it’s still a fossil fuel that produces global-warming emissions, putting mounting pressure on Mr. Biden not to expand LNG exports. Climate activists will hold a three-day sit-in at the Energy Department next month, and dozens of Democrats in Congress have publicly lobbied Mr. Biden to stay true to his climate change agenda by ditching natural gas production and exports.

Among other ambitious climate goals, Mr. Biden wants the U.S. to achieve 100% clean electricity generation by 2035. Natural gas was the largest source of power in the U.S., providing 40% of all generation in 2022, per the EIA. 

Mr. Sommers said API is voicing industry concerns “at the highest levels” of government that hamstringing LNG exports with a climate test would be bad for U.S. allies, the environment and the economy.

“This administration in our view has made a lot of really bad decisions,” he said. “This might be the worst.”