Regarding new natural gas export terminals in the United States, the Biden administration is putting off consideration, despite the fact that gas shipments to Europe and Asia have increased since Russia invaded Ukraine.
President Joe Biden’s decision in the election year is in line with environmentalists’ concerns about the significant rise in exports.
in the form of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, is securing potentially disastrous emissions that warm the planet at a time when President Biden has committed to halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
“While MAGA Republicans willfully deny the urgency of the climate crisis, condemning the American people to a dangerous future, my administration will not be complacent,” President Biden said in a statement. “We will not cede to special interests. 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.”
Environmentalists applauded a move that they had long sought to oppose Mr. Biden’s divisive approval of the massive Willow oil project in Alaska last year, while industry groups denounced the halt as a “win for Russia.”
“This decision is brave because Donald Trump (the man who pulled us out of the Paris climate accords on the grounds that climate change is a hoax) will attack it mercilessly,” environmentalist Bill McKibben wrote online.
“But it’s also very, very savvy: Biden wants young people, who care about climate above all, in his corner. They were angry about his dumb approval of the Willow oil project,” Mr. McKibben added
Mr. McKibben said a Louisiana LNG export terminal would emit 20 times more greenhouse gases than Willow.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the pause won’t affect authorized exports.
“Nor will it affect our ability to supply our allies in Europe, Asia, or other authorized export recipients,” she said. We’re committed to meeting our partners’ medium-term energy needs.
Liquefied natural gas exports from the United States started less than ten years ago, but they have expanded quickly in the last several years to make the country the largest gas exporter in the world.
In February 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine, exports shot through the roof. Mr. Biden and Ms. Granholm have hailed the delivery of American gas to Europe and Asia as a crucial geopolitical tool against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The biggest oil and gas industry lobbying group, the American Petroleum Institute, took issue with Mr. Biden’s action and used those remarks to attack the Democratic administration.
“This is a win for Russia and a loss for American allies, U.S. jobs, and global climate progress,” said Mike Sommers, who is the president and CEO of API.
A statement issued by Sommers late on Thursday night stated that “there is no review needed to understand the clear benefits of U.S. LNG (exports) for stabilizing global energy markets, supporting thousands of American jobs, and reducing emissions around the world by transitioning countries toward cleaner fuels” and away from coal. Sommers stated late on Thursday in a statement.
Mr. Biden’s action “is nothing more than a broken promise to U.S. allies, and it’s time for the administration to stop playing politics with global energy security,” he said.
Granholm stated that “a lot has happened” since LNG exports started roughly eight years ago. Granholm has made it a point to collaborate with oil and gas executives, despite Mr. Biden exchanging occasionally sharp jabs with them.
“We must have a deeper comprehension of the long-term supply and demand of energy resources, the environmental factors, and the needs of the (global energy) market,” she stated. we will therefore be better prepared to prevent export authorizations that reduce the amount of energy available to us domestically, compromise our security, or damage our economy if we update the analytical process now.
Granholm made it clear that the delay “is not meant to punish the oil and gas business,” nor is it a retrospective review of shipments that have already been approved.
In the battle against climate change, environmental consultant and former EPA climate policy adviser Jeremy Symons referred to Mr. Biden’s decision as a “game-changer.”
“In an interview, Symons stated that the president is putting a line in the sand to prioritize the interests of the country and pay attention to climate science. “Large-scale fossil fuel developments like the CP2 project are too important for the federal government to ignore any longer. The president we have currently is concerned about climate change.
The $10 billion Calcasieu Pass 2 project, or CP2, is the focus of Symons and other activists, who point out that if constructed, it would be the largest export facility in the country. CP2 is located along Louisiana’s Gulf Coast.
Symons called the gas project “bad for our nation, bad for our health, and bad for our economy.”