A federal judge in Louisiana has blocked a Biden administration move to pause the approval of applications to export liquefied natural gas.
In a July 1 ruling, U.S. District Judge James Cain sided with 16 Republican states in saying the U.S. Department of Energy's move to stop approvals of LNG exports was "completely without reason or logic” and “above and beyond its scope of authority.”
Cain granted the coalition’s motion for preliminary injunction and ordered the LNG export ban “be stayed in its entirety, effective immediately.”
Cain also said the states were likely to succeed in showing the pause went against the Natural Gas Act. After reviewing “voluminous studies attached as exhibits, all of which boast of both the economic and environmental benefits of exporting natural gas,” Cain said the ban likely was arbitrary, capricious and unconstitutional.
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, who was one of the AGs fighting the ban, praised Monday’s stay.
“This is a big win for the country’s energy industry and the millions of jobs it supports against the attacks from the Biden administration to further its radical climate change agenda at the expense of our economy,” Morrisey said. “This administration’s Energy Department has no such authority to justify this ban — authority on matters like this lies with Congress and Congress alone.”
Morrisey also co-led a 22-state letter in February urging the administration to end its pause on LNG exports.
On Jan. 26, Biden halted all new approvals of LNG exports to non-Free-Trade Agreement countries effective immediately. The coalition of 16 AGs said that decision ignored the Natural Gas Act’s presumption in favor of exports, decades of Department of Energy policy and state and private reliance on exports.
West Virginia is the country’s fourth largest producer of natural gas. As the coalition’s motion explained, the LNG ban threatens the tens of millions of dollars of severance taxes that West Virginia derives from natural gas and the thousands of jobs supported by the industry in the state.
The court’s order noted that the states had shown “evidence of harm” from the ban “specifically to Louisiana, Texas, and West Virginia in the loss of revenues, market share, and deprivation of a procedural right.”
International trade in LNG has spiked in part because of the abundant natural gas resources in the United States. The U.S. is the world leader in natural gas production and became the top exporter of LNG in 2023 — exporting an unprecedented 86 million metric tons. There are also nearly 187 million Americans using natural gas, supporting more than four million jobs.
When the Biden administration announced the pause in January, it said the move would allow officials to review the process for analyzing economic and environmental impacts of projects seeking to export LNG to Europe and Asia. The ban was hailed by environmental activists, but the coalition of 16 state sued in March.
U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins (R-Louisiana) also praised Monday’s injunction.
“(This) ruling is a win for American energy and South Louisiana,” Higgins said. “My office has argued for months that the Biden administration does not have the authority to indefinitely halt permitting for new LNG export projects. This ruling from the Western District of Louisiana affirms our position.
“I will continue to work at the federal level to enact policies that increase domestic production and support American energy dominance.”
In April, Higgins introduced the LNG Permitting Improvement Act, which his office says would establish a shot clock for reviewing applications for natural gas export and import orders. And in February, he also voted to override the ban by co-sponsoring and voting to pass the Unlocking our Domestic LNG Potential Act, which would reverse the permitting pause on American LNG exports.
