CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WV News) — West Virginia is among 22 states that have signed on to a letter “strongly urging” the Biden Administration to reconsider the decision to pause the permitting process for future liquefied natural gas exports, according to Attorney General Patrick Morrisey.
The letter contends the U.S. Energy Department lacks the authority to enact such pause and that it should have instead been approved by lawmakers in Congress.
“This administration is going full-throttle on its attack on America’s energy industry just to further Biden’s woke climate change agenda,” Morrisey said in a press release. “The Energy Department has no such authority — authority on matters like this lies with Congress and Congress alone.”
Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming all signed the letter.
“Beyond being unlawful, this ‘pause’ unnecessarily harms our economy,” the letter reads. “Our nation’s abundant supply of LNG insulates U.S. consumers from the increasing global energy instability while at the same time advancing U.S. national interests and ensuring the energy security for U.S. allies.”
On Jan. 26, the Biden administration enacted a temporary pause on pending decisions on exports projects of liquefied natural gas to non-fair trade countries until the Department of Energy can “update the underlying analyses for authorizations.”
“The current economic and environmental analyses DOE uses to underpin its LNG export authorizations are roughly five years old and no longer adequately account for considerations like potential energy cost increases for American consumers and manufacturers beyond current authorizations or the latest assessment of the impact of greenhouse gas emissions,” the administration said.
“Today, we have an evolving understanding of the market need for LNG, the long-term supply of LNG, and the perilous impacts of methane on our planet.”
The pause, which is subject to exception for unanticipated and immediate national security emergencies, will “provide the time to integrate these critical considerations,” the administration said.
The pause applies to “pending decisions” and will not impact exports at existing LNG export terminals or the status of LNG terminal projects that have already be approved.
According to information from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, there were eight LNG terminals in operation as of Jan. 30 — one in Alaska, three in Louisiana, one in Maryland, two in Texas and one in Georgia.
An additional seven LNG terminal projects have been approved and are currently under construction. Another 11 LNG terminal projects have been approved by FERC but are not yet under construction.
US Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.., has said the pause is meant to entice members of the “young environmental community” into supporting President Joe Biden’s re-election bid later this year.
“It seems to be a universal thought that this is a hat-tip to his young environmental community that he fears he is losing in this election,” she said last week. “So, purely political reasons.”
The U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, chaired by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., will hold a hearing “to examine” the pause on Thursday at 9:30 a.m.