Biden administration considers beefing up climate criteria for LNG project approvals

The US Biden administration is reevaluating the climate criteria it uses to determine whether to approve new LNG projects, Bloomberg and Politico reported on January 10, which could result in those projects getting stalled or blocked.

The alleged move comes ahead of the next US presidential election this November. According to the media agencies, the administration is considering tougher conditions for approvals to win over more climate-conscious voters. However, Biden has also pledged to ramp up LNG exports to provide Europe with more energy, in response to Russia’s steep cuts to pipeline gas supply following its invasion of Ukraine.

"Halting US LNG approvals would put our allies at risk. This should not be controversial,” Mike Sommers, president of the American Petroleum Institute (API), said at the group’s annual State of American Energy event on the same day. He stressed that US LNG exports would help cut global greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the use of coal overseas.

Sommers also criticised the Biden administration for limiting oil and gas development domestically, noting that under former Democrat president Barack Obama, the government held five times as many lease sales for upstream projects.

“We produce more energy than any country in the world,” Sommers said. “This benefits our economy, our national security and is our insurance in a volatile time. This is our American energy advantage. It didn’t happen overnight, and it can’t be sustained without the right policies from Washington.”

“To maintain America’s energy advantage going forward, policymakers must increase energy leasing in federal lands and waters, approve permits in a timely manner, and remove barriers to developing American energy.”