(FixThisNation.com) – On Monday, a federal judge blocked the Biden administration’s ban on new LNG exports.
More than a dozen states had challenged the ban on new liquefied natural gas (LNG), which the Lake Charles Division of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana granted on Monday.
The multi-state coalition had requested the court grant a preliminary injunction preventing the ban on new exports of LNG from taking effect as the case plays out.
In a statement, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey described the ruling as a “big win” for the U.S.’s “energy industry and the millions of jobs it supports” against the Biden administration’s attacks to further the “radical climate change agenda at the expense of our economy.”
Morrisey noted that the authority on these matters “lies with Congress,” noting the Department of Energy didn’t have the “authority to justify this ban.”
Monday’s ruling comes after the Biden administration stopped approving LNG exports to countries that aren’t part of the Free Trade Agreement. The administration stopped approving these exports on January 26 of this year, with immediate effect; however, projects that were previously approved were unaffected by the decision.
At the time, the White House and the Department of Energy explained the pause gave federal officials time to carry out rigorous environmental reviews assessing the impact of LNG projects on carbon emissions — which they projected would take more than a year to complete.
Following Monday’s ruling, a spokesperson for the Department of Energy released a statement disagreeing with the court’s ruling and explaining the Department would “review the court’s order and evaluate next steps.”
Copyright 2024, FixThisNation.com
