On Tuesday, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox was among 25 GOP governors who issued a statement calling on President Joe Biden to lift the “reckless pause” on new liquified natural gas export approvals that they assert is creating uncertainty and hurting U.S. allies.
“As governors, we are very concerned by the Biden Administration’s move to pause approvals of new liquified natural gas (LNG) export projects, especially after Iran’s attack on Israel last week. The U.S. is the world’s leading exporter of LNG, and the decision to pause new approvals undermines our economic and national security, and the security of our allies,” they wrote. ”It creates instability and threatens future energy security throughout the world at a time when our allies need us the most. It sends a message that the U.S. is not a reliable energy partner.”
In January, the Biden administration pushed pause on the approval of the construction of what would be the nation’s largest LNG export terminal in Louisiana.
The terminal would further solidify the United States as the leading exporter of liquified natural gas.
The United States exported more liquefied natural gas than any other country in 2023. U.S. LNG exports averaged 11.9 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d)—a 12% increase compared with 2022, according to data from from the Energy Information Administration’s Natural Gas Monthly. Exports involved 34 countries and accounted for about 56% of total natural gas exports. The war between Russia and Ukraine is largely credited with the increased exports as European countries were cut off from Russian fuel.
But Biden was facing pressure from environmental groups to delay the project and that was followed by delay of other approvals while they go through a more thorough review.
The Natural Resources Defense Council stressed at that time, approval decisions need to take into account the projects’ impact on the climate crisis, environmental justice and consumer utility bills.
Biden’s pause came despite urgings from industry groups that asserted in in statement:
“Nearly eight years of operating experience and DOE’s own studies have demonstrated that LNG exports are squarely within the public interest. Throttling down U.S. LNG exports will eliminate an important tool in reducing global emissions and force quickly developing nations — specifically in Asia — to abandon plans to reduce emissions and increase coal consumption.”
The governors’ statement went onto read: “We call on the Biden Administration to reverse course and lift the pause, allowing America to retain its global energy advantage, ensuring Americans and our allies abroad have access to a steady supply of affordable energy.”
Other signatories include governors from Louisiana, Idaho, South Dakota, Ohio, New Hampshire and Wyoming.
The energy administration says burning natural gas for energy results in fewer emissions of nearly all types of air pollutants and carbon dioxide emissions than burning coal or petroleum products to produce an equal amount of energy. For comparison, for every 1 million Btu consumed (burned), more than 200 pounds of carbon dioxide are produced from coal and more than 160 pounds of carbon dioxide are produced from fuel oil.
The clean-burning properties of natural gas have contributed to increased natural gas use for electricity generation and for fleet vehicle fuel in the United States. However, the administration did point to numbers from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency about the resulting methane.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that in 2021, methane emissions from natural gas and petroleum systems and from abandoned oil and natural gas wells were the source of about 33% of total U.S. methane emissions and about 4% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.