Americans Oppose Pause On Liquefied Natural Gas Exports

As Connecting the Dots reported in January, President Joe Biden recently paused the federal government’s reviews of applications for licenses to export liquified natural gas (LNG) from U.S. terminals. The stated purpose of this new policy was to determine whether LNG exports harm the environment, and whether export applications should be considered through that lens of their climate impact.

According to a new National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) survey, 84 percent of Americans disapprove of this pause and believe the United States should continue to export LNG. The NAM survey also revealed broad support for certain reforms that would enable more energy development in the United States. Specifically, the survey found:

• 86 percent of respondents said the federal government’s permitting system must change so energy projects are approved and able to come online in less time;
• 76 percent of Americans said the United States needs more energy infrastructure;
• 74 percent of respondents said the United States needs to increase domestic oil and natural gas production; and
• 72 percent of Americans said they would like to see the United States use an “all-of-the-above” energy approach that fosters development of both traditional and renewable energy sources.

As a reminder, in February MSCI and the Energy Equipment and Infrastructure Alliance sent a letter to President Biden asking him to reconsider his LNG pause. The letter, which was sent to every member of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives and is available here, said the Biden administration policy will:

• Endanger U.S. allies and U.S. energy security;
• Result in tens of thousands of lost U.S. jobs;
• Discourage major investments by companies and their financial institutions by adding permitting risk; and
• Reverse progress toward addressing climate change.

State governments are starting to respond to Americans’ overwhelming opposition to the LNG pause. Last week, The Hill reported that 16 state attorneys general have sued the Biden administration, demanding that federal courts rule that the U.S. Department of Energy must overturn the policy. “This ban disregards statutory mandates, flouts the normal regulatory process, upends the industry, disrupts plaintiffs’ economies, and subverts our constitutional structure,” the lawsuit alleged. “These unlawful actions leave plaintiffs with no choice but to once more turn to the courts to enforce the law.”