Biden Administration Postpones Massive Natural Gas Export Terminal Over Climate Impact Evaluation

The Biden administration has delayed the federal approval of the natural gas export projects to evaluate their impacts on the climate crisis.

Calcasieu Pass 2 (CP2), a proposed $10 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) on a 546-acre site in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, will be the country's biggest natural gas export terminal.

Biden Administration Delays Natural Gas Export Terminal

(Photo : Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 22: U.S. President Joe Biden attends a meeting of the Reproductive Health Task Force at the White House on January 22, 2024 in Washington, DC. Biden met with the task force to discuss reproductive health and to mark the 51st anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision.

The White House is directing the Department of Energy to consider the potential climate change effects of proposed LNG export terminal projects, a move that environmentalists have been demanding in recent months. The DOE has never before rejected a gas export application on climate grounds.

Shaylyn Hynes, a spokesperson for energy developer Venture Global, said, "It appears that individuals within the White House are trying to force policymaking through leaks to the media. This continues to create uncertainty about whether our allies can rely on US LNG for their energy security." She claimed that if the leaked report from anonymous White House sources is accurate, the administration may be putting a moratorium on the entire US LNG industry.

Hynes added that such an action would shock the global energy market, having the impact of an economic sanction, and send a devastating signal to their allies that they can no longer rely on the US. She noted that the true irony is that this policy would hurt the climate and increase emissions, forcing the world to pivot to coal.

The administration may be softening its stance on these projects as Biden prepares for a challenging reelection campaign in which he hopes to win over young, climate-minded voters. Environmental groups have recently focused on the rise of new and planned fossil fuel infrastructure along the Gulf Coast, which the Biden administration has a role in approving the project.

Climate Groups Speak Out

On Wednesday, climate advocates met with cautious optimism. Jean Su, director of the Center for Biological Diversity's Energy Justice program, told The Independent in an email that they would welcome the Biden administration for pausing the monstrous climate-killing CP2 project.

However, she said a pause is not enough.

Su noted they were gathered due to the growing national pressure from the youth and frontline communities to end fossil fuel expansion. She advised the administration to go nine yards and reject CP2 and all new oil and gas projects to preserve a livable planet.

Furthermore, she continued that they need a public interest test that denies any new project that would drive them further into climate catastrophe and violate US commitments to transition away from fossil fuels.

Bill McKibben, founder of the climate groups 350.org and Third Act, also said that Biden's decision has bolstered clean energy than any of his predecessors and has also done more to check dirty energy by halting the largest fossil fuel expansion in history.