Senator decries Biden administration 'hostility' toward LNG industry

Senator decries Biden administration 'hostility' toward LNG industry
by Chris Benson
Washington DC (UPI) Jan 30, 2024

Louisiana Republican Sen. John Kennedy wrote in a Monday Wall Street Journal op-ed that he will block all of President Joe Biden's State and Energy department nominees until the administration stops what he called "hostility" toward the liquid natural gas industry.

The Biden administration announced on Jan. 26 a temporary pause on approval of new liquified natural gas exports to non-Free Trade Agreement countries in order to reassess its environment and economic impact.

Kennedy -- ranking member on the U.S. Senate's Energy and Water Subcommittee on Appropriations -- wrote the WSJ op-ed to say why he believes Biden's pause on new exports will "hurt America and our allies."

"Consider the Calcasieu Pass 2 export terminal in Cameron Parish, La. Once completed, it will be the country's largest terminal. Nixing its permit alone would jeopardize $20 billion in investments for American industry and kill thousands of good Louisiana jobs," Kennedy wrote.

While nearly half of U.S. 2022 LNG exports were sent to Europe, the White House has said that the new export pause will have no effect on the U.S. ability to "continue supplying LNG to our allies in the near-term."

Biden said the point behind the temporary pause was to "take a hard look" at "the impacts of LNG exports on energy costs, America's energy security and our environment."

The president said the pause on new approvals recognize "the climate crisis for what it is: the existential threat of our time."

The move comes during another polarized presidential election -- with environmental groups praising Biden's decision while gas industry groups and Republicans condemning them as a "win for Russia."

In a Jan. 16 letter to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Kennedy -- who reportedly received more than $300,000 in oil and gas industry campaign donations from 2021-2022 -- said the temporary restrictions on exports placed by Biden "would limit our ability to help our allies to provide global energy security, and to remain an influential leader in the global energy market."

Kennedy told Granholm that while there is a need for developing nations to reduce their own emissions, "supplying a reliable source of energy to their citizens is the challenge of our time." He added that it would be "counterproductive" to "limit the US ability to help countries tackle these pressing issues."

In the op-ed -- invoking an Arnold Schwarzenegger reference -- Kennedy said, "like the Terminator, I'll be back again and again to stop his nominees."