A federal judge on Monday blocked the U.S. government’s ban on approving applications to export liquefied natural gas (LNG), in response to a lawsuit by Republican-led states.
U.S. District Judge James Cain Jr, in Louisiana, a Trump appointee, ruled that the LNG export ban “be stayed in its entirety, effective immediately.”
A coalition of 16 Republican-led states, including Texas, Louisiana and Florida, had filed suit in March in Lake Charles, Louisiana, arguing that the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden lacked the authority to broadly deny the permits.
They claimed the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) pause on exports would harm the U.S. economy and undermine efforts to supply foreign allies in Europe with steady supplies of LNG as the region seeks to wean itself off piped gas from Russia.
The Biden administration said in January the pause would allow officials to review the process for analyzing economic and environmental impacts of projects seeking approval to export LNG to Europe and Asia where the fuel is in high demand.
The January move was cheered by climate activists, an important part of Biden’s base, and could have delayed decisions on new plants until after the Nov. 5 presidential election, when Biden will face off against Republican former President Donald Trump.
The states argued that the pause on new approvals for LNG exports oversteps the DOE’s authority under the Natural Gas Act, which they said requires the agency to affirmatively show projects are inconsistent with the public interest before denying applications.
The states also argued the ban jeopardizes billions of dollars in investments planned to build export facilities.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Leslie Adler)