President Biden’s moratorium on new LNG exports has threatened more than a dozen energy projects in the U.S. and raised doubts about America’s reliability as a global fuel supplier, prompting accusations that he is weakening national security in an election-year ploy to appease young climate-conscious voters.
The U.S. is the largest supplier of super-chilled liquefied natural gas to Europe, where Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has limited the options for obtaining fuel supplies. The suspension could impact Germany, a major funder of a massive LNG project in Louisiana. Germany said it is monitoring Mr. Biden’s moratorium closely.
Mike Sommers, president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, said the administration’s halting of new LNG permits “at a time of geopolitical volatility is a win for Russia and a loss for American allies, U.S. jobs and worldwide climate progress.”
He said it’s time for the White House “to stop playing politics” with global energy security.
Didier Holleaux, the president of Eurogas, said Europe has depended on LNG from the U.S. to help replace Russian piped gas. Any pause in export approvals could increase the risk of a global supply imbalance and lead to price increases, he said.
“In the past two years since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Europe has worked extremely hard to secure price stability of natural gas — with the important contribution of like-minded countries, including the United States,” he said in a statement. “It is essential that the United States stands with Europe, especially at a time of war where we are working together to protect our values and does not deliberately spark a new period of price volatility in Europe caused by policy-driven LNG shortages.”
Some industry analysts say the action will force fuel customers to turn to petroleum suppliers such as Russia and Iran or obtain more coal from China.
Mr. Biden’s move “is a message to our allies that you can’t rely on America,” said Harold Hamm, founder and executive chairman of independent oil producer Continental Resources.
“This is a policy that puts America last,” Mr. Hamm wrote in an op-ed for The Washington Times. “Actions like this prevent America from coming to the rescue of our allies today or in the future, thereby empowering Russia once again and harming Americans and American oil and gas producers by stopping the free market.”
The administration’s “pause” on issuing new licenses for LNG exports will likely last through the Nov. 5 election. It has cheered climate activists who were angered by Mr. Biden’s approval of ConocoPhillips’ $7 billion oil and gas drilling Willow project in Alaska last year.
Activists and congressional Democrats claimed victory but wanted the administration to make the pause permanent.
“This is a step in the right direction, but this decision must lead to the only scientifically sound conclusion: a complete rejection of all new LNG export permits,” said Zero Hour, a youth-led activist group.
White House national climate adviser Ali Zaidi said the president’s action should enthuse young Americans.
“Young people are excited about [an agenda that is] not about just getting sucked into the doom and gloom of the sky turning orange and the smoke that we breathe into our lungs, but of what we can see together if we get this right,” Mr. Zaidi said at a press briefing on Friday. “I think young people know they’ve got in Joe Biden a partner and ally, a leader willing to be forward-leaning and fearless and taking on this crisis and unlocking the massive, massive opportunity that sits on the other side.”
The president made clear in a statement that the election played a role in his decision.
“MAGA Republicans willfully deny the urgency of the climate crisis, condemning the American people to a dangerous future, [but] my Administration will not be complacent. We will not cede to special interests,” Mr. Biden said in a statement. “We will heed the calls of young people and frontline communities who are using their voices to demand action from those with the power to act.”
A campaign spokeswoman for former President Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner, said Mr. Trump would “unleash American energy” on his first day in the White House.
“Biden has once again caved to the radical demands of the environmental extremists in his administration. This decision to block the approval of new facilities to export American natural gas is one more disastrous self-inflicted wound that will further undermine America’s economic and national security,” said Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt.
Republicans in Congress, and some Democrats, say the president is simply pandering to a disaffected part of his base while his job approval rating hovers near 40%.
“This move is pure politics,” Sen. Tim Scott, South Carolina Republican, said on X.
Sen. Joe Manchin III, a West Virginia Democrat who has said Mr. Biden’s climate change agenda threatens U.S. energy security, vowed to investigate the president’s LNG pause as chair of the Senate Energy Committee.
“I will hold a hearing on LNG in the coming weeks to unveil the facts about the true state of play in the markets, this administration’s motivations and their implications,” he said.
Mr. Biden’s move “doesn’t make sense [for] his environmental agenda,” former Sen. Mary Landrieu, Louisiana Democrat, said on CNBC.
“Natural gas is cleaner than coal. We have reduced emissions 60% in the U.S. by using natural gas and renewables,” she said.
A group of 25 Republican senators, citing national security concerns in Europe and Asia, urged Mr. Biden to reverse his decision. Without new supplies of LNG from the U.S., they wrote, “European leaders would have to decide between depriving their own citizens of energy or actively funding Russia’s war on Ukraine.”
They said Iran “is seeking to benefit from the [Israel-Hamas] war by ramping its own domestic LNG exports to displace the very supplies it helped to disrupt.”
“American LNG exports have enhanced our geopolitical influence and international energy security across the board since 2016,” the senators wrote. “In addition to Europe, U.S. LNG has a significant impact on energy security in Asia. Japan and South Korea have been the top two destinations for importing U.S. LNG. Taiwan also imports U.S. LNG, and India is rapidly increasing its imports as well.”
A senior administration official said the moratorium will delay four export permits awaiting final Energy Department approval. The permits have already gone through years of environmental, engineering and safety reviews at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Another official told reporters that the CP2 project in Louisiana, which would be the nation’s largest LNG export facility, would not immediately be affected by the pause because it is still looking for a green light from the commission.
Still, the energy sector fears the new climate standards would put up environmental roadblocks for projects such as CP2 once they seek final export approval.
The project’s owner, Venture Global, echoed other critics of the administration who say the pause threatens Europe’s use of LNG from the U.S. and that it would worsen climate change by forcing other countries to turn to coal, a dirtier form of energy.
“Such an action would shock the global energy market, having the impact of an economic sanction, and send a devastating signal to our allies that they can no longer rely on the United States,” Venture Global spokeswoman Shaylyn Hynes said. “The true irony is this policy would hurt the climate and lead to increased emissions as it would force the world to pivot to coal.”
In a letter to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Asia Natural Gas and Energy Association President Paul Everingham said LNG from the U.S. has helped Asian nations reduce emissions while continuing economic growth.
“Without sufficient access to gas imports, energy security and the energy transition will be elusive for the people of Southeast Asia, and that in turn places at risk the ambitious decarbonization plans spearheaded by Japan, which take into account Asian nations’ specific requirements,” he wrote.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.