LAKE CHARLES, Louisiana — The Biden administration cannot delay consideration of projects aimed at exporting liquefied natural gas while a legal challenge is pending in federal court by 16 Republican-led states, a Louisiana judge said Monday.
U.S. District Judge James Cain, Jr. sided with the states and granted a preliminary injunction staying the Biden administration’s delay.
However, it was unlikely that any of the projects would be taken up anytime soon, as the U.S. Department of Energy said Monday night that it disagreed with the court ruling and was evaluating next steps. The White House also expressed disappointment.
“We remain committed to informing our decisions with the best available economic and environmental analyses, supported by sound science,” White House spokesman Angelo Fernández Hernández said in an email to The Associated Press.
President Joe Biden decided in January his administration would postpone the consideration of new natural gas export terminals in the United States, as gas shipments to Europe and Asia surged after Russia invaded Ukraine. The move put the Democrat in touch with environmentalists who fear that increased exports — in the form of liquefied natural gas, or LNG — could potentially create catastrophic global warming emissions.
A coalition of states including Louisiana, Alaska, Texas, West Virginia and Wyoming filed a lawsuit in March, alleging that the government violated the U.S. Constitution and other federal laws by banning the export of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to countries without free trade agreements.
By temporarily blocking the Biden ban on new approvals, Cain said the states are likely to succeed in their case. He cited evidence submitted by the plaintiffs showing revenue losses and deferred investments in LNG projects because of the Biden administration’s actions.
The ruling comes just days after a federal commission approved what the national largest export terminal for liquefied natural gasVenture Global’s Calcasieu Pass 2 project in southwest Louisiana, often referred to as CP2, was approved last week by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission with little discussion.
That project still needs DOE approval. The agency said the application for the project was pending.
Republican members of Congress from Louisiana to Alaska have derided the administration’s reluctance as shortsighted and a boon to foreign energy-producing adversaries, including Iran and RussiaOther proponents have argued that projects like CP2 will be critical to global energy security.
Environmental group Evergreen Action was among those criticizing Cain’s ruling, claiming the judge “circumvented the law to give the oil industry a victory.”
“Pause or no pause, the science is clear: No amount of rigorous analysis that takes into account the climate and environmental problems that LNG exports pose can determine that these deadly facilities are in the public interest,” said Craig Segall, the group’s vice chairman.
According to the DOE, current LNG export authorizations to countries that do not have a free trade agreement amount to more than 48 billion cubic feet per day, or more than 45 percent of our current domestic natural gas production. The agency also said the U.S. will remain the largest exporter of LNG by a significant margin for at least the next six years based on current export capacity.