The Biden administration is fighting a federal judge’s order that overturned a temporary freeze on new approvals for liquefied natural gas exports.
On Monday, the Department of Energy announced that it will ask the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to clear the way for a pause on new authorizations as the agency studies how it should account for climate risks of the fuel when deciding whether exports are in the public interest.
DOE’s decision to issue the pause came after the agency faced intense pressure from conservation groups to consider how LNG project emissions could worsen warming global temperatures. The Justice Department declined to comment on its appeal.
The LNG pause didn’t affect prior approvals of exports of the supercooled gas. Instead, DOE put a hold on approvals of pending and future applications to export LNG to countries that do not have a free trade agreement with the United States.
