LAKE CHARLES, La. (AP) — The Biden administration cannot delay consideration of projects aimed at exporting liquefied natural gas while a legal challenge by 16 Republican-led states plays out in federal court, a Louisiana judge said Monday .
U.S. District Judge James Cain Jr. sided with the states, granting a preliminary injunction halting the Biden administration’s delay.
It was unlikely, however, that either project was on a fast track for consideration, as the US Department of Energy said on Monday that it disagreed with the court’s decision and was evaluating its next steps. The White House also expressed disappointment.
“We remain committed to informing our decisions with the best economic and environmental analysis available, supported by solid scientific data,” White House spokesman Angelo Fernández Hernández said in an email to The Associated Press.
President Joe Biden in January decided your administration would delay consideration of new natural gas export terminals in the United States, even with the increase in gas shipments to Europe and Asia following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The move aligned the Democrat with environmentalists who fear that an increase in exports – in the form of liquefied natural gas, or LNG – is blocking potentially catastrophic emissions that cause the planet to warm.
A coalition of states, including Louisiana, Alaska, Texas, West Virginia and Wyoming, sued in March, alleging that the administration was violating the U.S. Constitution and other federal laws by prohibiting the export of LNG to countries without a free trade agreement. .
By temporarily blocking Biden’s ban on new approvals, Cain said states will likely succeed in their case. He cited evidence presented by plaintiffs that showed lost revenue and deferred investments in LNG projects due to the Biden administration’s actions.
The decision comes just days after a federal commission approved what would be the country’s bill. largest liquefied natural gas export terminal. Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass 2 project in southwest Louisiana, often referred to as CP2, was approved last week with little discussion by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
This project still needs DOE approval. The agency said the project application was pending.
Republican members of Congress from Louisiana to Alaska derided the government’s pause as shortsighted and a boon to foreign energy-producing adversaries, including Iran and Russia. Other supporters argued that projects like CP2 will be critical to global energy security.
The environmental group Evergreen Action was one of those who criticized Cain’s decision, claiming that the judge was “bending the law to give the oil industry a victory.”
“Pause or no pause, the science is clear: no solid analysis that takes into account the climate and environmental hardships inflicted by LNG exports could determine that these deadly facilities are in the public interest,” said Craig Segall, vice president of the group.
According to the DOE, current authorizations for LNG exports to countries without free trade agreements amount to more than 48 billion cubic feet per day, or more than 45% of our current domestic natural gas production. The agency also said the US will continue to be the largest LNG exporter by a substantial margin for at least the next six years, based on current export capacity.
