The White House wants to postpone the decision on the huge natural gas export terminal

The Biden administration is suspending a decision on whether to approve what would be the largest natural gas export terminal in the United States, a delay that could extend beyond the November election and could spell trouble for that project, according to three people and 16 other proposed terminals. with expertise.

The White House is directing the Energy Department to expand its review of the project to consider its impact on climate change, as well as the economy and national security, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss publicly. internal deliberations. The Energy Department has never rejected a proposed natural gas project because of its expected environmental impacts.

The move comes as Biden gears up for what is likely to be a contentious re-election campaign. He is trying to woo climate voters, especially the young activists who helped him win the 2020 election and who have been angered by his administration's approval last year of the Willow project, a massive oil drilling operation in Alaska.

It also comes because the United States leads the world in both liquefied natural gas exports and oil and gas production. The country has seven export terminals five more are under construction.

The project in question, Calcasieu Pass 2, is one of 17 additional terminals proposed by the fossil fuel industry.

Still, Republicans and former President Donald J. Trump, who is expected to be his party's choice to challenge Mr. Biden in November, will surely try to take advantage of any delay to give him permission, charging that Mr. Biden is hindering American energy.

“This move would amount to a functional ban on new LNG export licenses,” Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, said in the Senate on Wednesday. “The administration's war on affordable domestic energy has been bad news for American workers and consumers alike.”

Mr Trump, who has wrongly called global warming a “hoax”, has pledged to expand fossil fuel production and shred Mr Biden's climate agenda. “We will start drilling immediately, baby drilling,” he told voters after winning the Iowa caucuses earlier this month.

Calcasieu Pass 2, or CP2, would dwarf the country's existing export terminals. The $10 billion project It would be located along a navigation channel connecting the Gulf of Mexico to Lake Charles, La. It would export up to 20 million tons of natural gas per year, increasing the current amount of U.S. gas exports by about 20 percent.

The project first requires approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission before moving to the Energy Department for consideration.

The Energy Department must weigh whether the export terminal is in “the public interest,” a subjective determination. But now the White House has asked for additional analysis of CP2's climate impacts.

Natural gas, which consists mainly of methane, is cleaner when burned than coal. But methane is a much more potent greenhouse gas in the short term, compared to carbon dioxide, and can leak anywhere in the supply chain, from the production well to processing plants to the stove. The process of liquefying gas to make it suitable for transportation is also incredibly energy intensive, creating even more emissions.

Whatever new criteria is used to evaluate CP2 is expected to be applied to the other 16 proposed natural gas terminals awaiting approval.

Scientists have overwhelmingly said that countries must make deep and rapid cuts to emissions from the burning of gas, oil and coal if humanity is to avoid a climate catastrophe. Last month, the United States, along with 196 other countries, pledged at the United Nations Climate Summit in Dubai to transition away from fossil fuels.

More than 150 scientists signed a letter dated December 19 to Mr. Biden, urging him to reject CP2 and the additional proposed facilities. “The scale of the proposed build-out of LNG in the coming years is staggering,” they wrote. Approving new terminals would “put us on a continued path toward escalating climate chaos,” the letter said.

Given the scientific imperative, experts say it is reasonable to consider climate impacts before building new gas export terminals.

“So far, there's really no need to consider the cumulative climate, economic or market impact of all these facilities,” said Ben Cahill, a senior fellow in the Center for Strategic's Energy Security and Climate Change Program and International Studies, an impartial research organization. “And it's a very fair question.”

A delay of many months could jeopardize financing for CP2, which is being proposed by Venture Global LNG, a Virginia-based startup whose other gas export terminals have already encountered equipment and shipping problems and legal disputes.

That is precisely the hope of climate activists who launched a social media campaign last fall to urge Biden to reject CP2.

“We see CP2 as stopping the first fraction of the largest LNG production to date,” said Alex Haraus, a 25-year-old social media influencer from Colorado who has led a TikTok and Instagram campaign to appeal to young voters to urge demands that Mr. Biden reject the project. His posts have been viewed approximately 7 million times on TikTok and Instagram.

Among those who saw the posts were Ali Zaidi and John Podesta, senior advisers to Mr Biden on climate policy. Mr. Podesta is also a veteran of climate advocacy and presidential campaigns. Mr. Haraus had a Zoom meeting with Mr. Zaidi this week and with Mr. Podesta last month to discuss the project, one of several meetings on CP2 between White House climate officials and environmental groups.

Climate activists have likened their CP2 campaign to a successful effort more than a decade ago to convince President Barack Obama to reject the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

In that campaign, climate activist Bill McKibben managed to transform an obscure oil pipeline project, which was on track for routine federal approval, into a high-profile symbol of Obama's commitment to fighting climate change.

The Obama administration determined that the pipeline was not “in the public interest” because of the emissions associated with producing the oil that would be transported through the pipeline.

Mr McKibben also played a major role in organizing the CP2 campaign.

“Keystone is a great example of how this can work,” said Mr. Haraus. “And we will absolutely reward or punish him for this decision,” he added, referring to Mr. Biden.

There is little division within the White House over the decision to delay CP2, in part because it is not seen as a major energy security issue, people familiar with the discussion said. That's because the United States already produces and exports so much gas. That capacity will almost double over the next four years, making the need for CP2 less urgent.

American dominance in the natural gas market is a recent story. Until 2016, the United States did not export natural gas. But the expansion of hydraulic fracking translated into a massive growth in natural gas supplies and a new export industry.

After Russia invaded Ukraine, the United States shifted exports from Asia to Europe to help allies dependent on Russian gas.

But Republicans, oil and gas companies and some energy analysts warn that even the glut of natural gas exports may not be enough to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from weaponizing natural gas supplies.

“No one hates USLNG more than Vladimir Putin,” said Daniel Yergin, vice chairman of S&P Global and an oil industry historian.

Mike Sommers, the president of the American Petroleum Institute, which represents oil and gas companies, said at an energy conference this week that curtailing construction of future terminals would harm U.S. allies, “especially those in Europe who are desperate to are to American natural gas.”