WASHINGTON, Jan 26: Joe Bidens administration announced Friday it was pausing new liquified natural gas (LNG) export facilities, citing the urgent need to tackle the climate crisis by accelerating the transition from fossil fuels.
It comes as the president looks to shore up his liberal base in a tough election rematch later this year against likely Republican candidate Donald Trump, who has falsely called human-caused global warming a "hoax" and vowed to torpedo his Democratic opponents climate agenda.
"This pause on new LNG approvals sees the climate crisis for what it is: the existential threat of our time," said Biden in a statement. "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."
The US is the worlds leading LNG exporter, averaging 11.6 billion cubic feet (328 million cubic meters) per day according to the tracker CEDIGAZ, with seven terminals currently in operation.
Under the plan, new export applications would be subjected to an indefinite review considering climate and wider environmental and economic impacts.
Facilities impacted include Venture Globals proposed Calcasieu Pass 2 (CP2) in Louisiana, which would be the biggest terminal in the country and release the equivalent annual emissions of 42-million cars, according to a letter penned to Biden in December by 170 scientists.
Scientists and environmental activists welcomed the move.
"Its very important and appropriate for the administration to conduct a wide review to really understand the implications of exporting natural gas, particularly expanding capacity at this point in time," Dan Lashof, director of the nonprofit World Resources Institute, told AFP.
He added that while a transition to renewables would eventually happen no matter who was president, "if there is a government policy of green lighting new fossil fuel supplies, at a minimum that will be slowing down the transition at a time when we should be accelerating."
Fossil fuel industry groups reacted strongly. The Independent Petroleum Association of America said in a statement the plan would "bolster Russian influence" in the European gas market.
But according to a recent letter by 60 European parliamentarians to Biden, while US LNG had previously helped the continent avoid an energy crisis brought on by Russias invasion of Ukraine, EU member states are now reducing their gas demand.
"Europe should not be used as an excuse to expand LNG exports that threaten our shared climate and have dire impacts on US communities," they wrote. —AFP
