Biden’s Worst Energy Decision

His LNG export permit ban looks worse the more you examine it

WSJ Editorial. 

"The White House says the pause will only affect a handful of projects that are currently seeking Energy Department permits, but this is dishonest. It will also freeze about a half a dozen projects seeking Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approvals and could halt another dozen or so that have been permitted by previous Presidents.

That’s because the Energy Department in December announced that projects not yet operating will have to reapply for permits if it’s been seven years since they were authorized. So projects in the works could get deep-sixed—even if they have billions of dollars in committed capital and contractual agreements with customers.

The Administration is deliberately creating uncertainty about permit approvals and extensions to chill investment and discourage foreign governments from signing long-term contracts. Why risk investing in or signing a purchase agreement with a Gulf Coast project that may later be killed? Smarter to link up with the Qataris.

That’s what some are already doing."

"Russian and Iranian proxies could cause LNG prices to spike by attacking one or two large Qatar export facilities. Some countries in Asia might then burn more coal as they did in 2022 when LNG prices shot up. But Europeans are planning to retire coal and nuclear plants in the coming years on the expectation that they will have ample LNG from the U.S.

As for America’s economic interests, a single LNG export project will produce about $600 billion in revenue over its lifespan and create thousands of jobs, including in steel manufacturing and fracking—no government subsidies required."

"Venture Global’s Gulf Coast CP2 . . . would also reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 140 million tons a year—about as much as all container ships in the world produce. But it still needs an Energy Department permit."