Lawmakers tangle over Biden pause on new LNG terminals

“This administration’s pause has caused a great alarm and uncertainty, particularly with our European allies,” said Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, and chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee’s economic growth, energy policy and regulatory affairs subcommittee. “The United States LNG producers and exporters are rightfully alarmed by the pause. They need predictability to move forward into the future.”

GOP lawmakers are proposing legislation, sponsored by Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, to repeal restrictions on the import and export of natural gas.

Brad Crabtree, assistant secretary for the Energy Department’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, told the panel that the administration’s pause, which started in January, is a response to the U.S. success with LNG exports.

“This context makes clear why it is so important that we take this moment to evaluate the impacts of authorizing further exports beyond the very large volume of exports that we have already approved,” Crabtree said.

Crabtree was confronted by numerous Republican House members – including some not on the subcommittee – representing LNG-producing states.

“You realize, of course, that the actions that you have taken on behalf of your executive, for whom you work, has (impacted) thousands and thousands of American lives and jobs,” said Rep. Clay Higgins, R-Louisiana.

The United States is the world’s top LNG exporter.

In 2022, Higgins’ state of Louisiana, along with Texas, produced nearly 80% of all LNG exports from the United States. The nation saw a 12% increase in LNG exports from 2022 to 2023, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (USEIA).

Attorneys general from Louisiana, Texas and 14 other states sued the Biden administration in March over the pause.

“Prior to the executive’s (Biden’s) interference, the American LNG industry had been feeding reliable, affordable, clean energy to our allies across the world,” Higgins said.

Maryland accounted for about 3.5% of total U.S. LNG exports in 2022, all coming from the state’s one LNG terminal in Cove Point, the USEIA reported.

“Because of various interruptions that have been planned and calculated, interruptions to American energy production and dominance and export, our European allies have had to rely on other sources for their raw energy product to power their grids across the continent,” Higgins charged.

The world’s largest LNG exporters behind the United States are Australia and Qatar, with Russia and Malaysia trailing behind, according to the USEIA.

“Isn’t it in the public interest to cripple Russia’s LNG exports?” Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Florida asked Crabtree. “If we drop the price of global oil and gas below a certain point, Russia’s done…Iran is done…”

“We are crippling (Russia’s) capacity because we are doubling our exports between now and 2030, sir,” Crabtree responded.

House Democrats endorsed the Biden administration’s pause on LNG exports, saying greenhouse gas emissions and disproportionate damages to disadvantaged communities were key considerations.

“We are all here today talking about a drop in the LNG export bucket compared to the massive expansion in export capacity the Biden-Harris administration has already enabled,” said Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C. “This whole endeavor is just one more chapter in the majority’s false claim that the Biden-Harris administration is waging some sort of ‘war on energy.’”