On January 26, the Biden administration declared a temporary halt to the approval of new liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to countries outside the Free Trade Agreement. This pause aims to reevaluate the environmental and economic implications.
Kennedy, a prominent member of the U.S. Senate’s Energy and Water Subcommittee on Appropriations, penned an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal expressing his concerns about how Biden’s decision to pause new exports could negatively impact both the United States and its 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.
Although Europe received about half of the United States’ 2022 LNG exports, the White House has stated that the new export pause will not impact the country’s capacity to “continue supplying LNG to our allies in the near-term.”
The purpose of the brief hiatus, according to Biden, was to “take a hard look” at “the impacts of LNG exports on energy costs, America’s energy security, and our environment.”
The halt on fresh approvals, according to the president, acknowledges “the climate crisis for what it is: the existential threat of our time.”
In the midst of yet another divisive presidential election, environmental organizations are applauding Biden’s initiative, while Republicans and groups representing the gas sector are denouncing it as a “win for Russia.”
Kennedy, who reportedly received more than $300,000 in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry in 2021–2022, wrote to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on January 16th, stating that the temporary export restrictions imposed 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.”
While developing countries must cut their own emissions, Kennedy warned Granholm that “supplying a reliable source of energy to their citizens is the challenge of our time.” He went on to say that “limit the US ability to help countries tackle these pressing issues” would be “counterproductive.”
Kennedy compared himself to the Terminator in the op-ed, saying, “Like the Terminator, I’ll be back again and again to stop his nominees.”
