Biden administration advises caution on new natural gas permits after report
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Study published Tuesday shows rising LNG exports risk dramatically raising greenhouse gas emissions. The Biden administration released a long-awaited study on the economic and environmental impacts of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports on Tuesday, saying the results underscored the need for a cautious approach to new permits.
Biden in January had paused the Department of Energy’s approvals of US LNG exports to big consumers in Asia and Europe in order for his administration to conduct the review, in a move welcomed by environmentalists but decried by the oil and gas industry.
The study published on Tuesday showed rising LNG exports risk dramatically raising greenhouse gas emissions and could also trigger price hikes for US energy consumers, said the US energy secretary, Jennifer Granholm, in a letter summarizing the research’s findings.
She told reporters on a press call before the study’s release that a business-as-usual approach to LNG export permitting was neither sustainable nor advisable. Donald Trump, a climate skeptic and big supporter of fossil fuel development, has promised to immediately end the moratorium on new LNG export permits when he returns to the White House in January.
