Domestic policy. Global impact. Biden's LNG pause worsens global instability.

March 14, 2024

Energy policy is foreign policy. The LNG export approval pause is hurting both.

PAGE appreciates President Biden's efforts to defend the sovereignty of our allies. However, the recent decision to pause pending approvals for liquefied natural gas (LNG) export infrastructure directly contradicts this goal because it may leave our global partners reliant on dangerous adversaries for energy.

Two-thirds of the world's economically recoverable gas is in just four countries: Russia, Iran, Qatar, and the U.S. By restricting our future LNG exports, the Administration is opening the door for authoritarian regimes - the same regimes they are trying to protect our allies from - to fill global supply and leverage their gas reserves for geopolitical gains.

Protect the climate. Defend our allies. Create jobs. Support U.S. natural gas exports.

- Chris Treanor, Executive Director, PAGE

Story Spotlight

Irrational Energy Policy Puts U.S. National Security In Jeopardy

Amid outbreaks of violence in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, President Biden is rightfully urging foreign aid to secure the sovereignty of our allies and, by extension, the safety of the American people. This commitment to international stability is laudable.

However, the Department of Energy’s (DOE) recent decision to pause pending approvals for liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities is in direct conflict with this goal, possibly leaving our allies reliant on authoritarian regimes for energy.

CSIS: Why Pausing LNG Exports Is Bad Foreign Policy

In effect, President Biden chose to symbolically address domestic price concerns and climate change fears at the expense of national security.

This decision is particularly concerning given how the war in Ukraine, conflicts raging across the Middle East, and rising tensions in the South China Sea all interact with global energy security concerns.

The ban will not impact short-term projects and exports, but it does have long-term implications, and sends the wrong message at the wrong time about the reliability of the United States as an energy exporter.

Center for European Policy Analysis: How the US Can Make Money, Help the Climate, and Hurt Russia

The White House should consider a twin-track strategy. The US would lift the export pause and guarantee access to additional LNG supplies. In return, it should seek express EU legislation promptly banning all Russian pipeline gas into the continent by the EU’s existing target of 2027.

In parallel it should work with the EU to progressively ban all Russian LNG into all of Europe. This approach would guarantee European supply security while cutting out much dirtier Russian natural gas.

ICYMI: International Energy Agency Report (IEA): Coal-to-gas switching once again the largest driver behind emissions reductions in the U.S. electricity sector in 2023

State of the Union Response: PAGE Reaffirms Climate Benefits Of U.S. LNG Exports, Calls For Biden Administration To End ‘LNG Pause’

"While PAGE agrees with the Administration that climate, energy security and economic considerations each play a pivotal role in forming rational energy policy, the LNG export approval pause is a misguided decision. The pause faces bipartisan opposition, including from Democratic members across both chambers who are publicly pushing back on the Administration and voicing their concerns about the harm created by the pause.

The reality is the Administration’s indefinite moratorium relies on assumed results rather than actual evidence. In fact, LNG export growth since 2016 has led to positive progress on each of the issues that the Department of Energy (DOE) is studying, making it clear that this decision puts politics before science."

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