A Louisiana judge’s decision to overturn a ban on new liquefied natural gas export agreements will benefit the state’s energy economy, support oil industry jobs and ensure that U.S. allies have a secure, clean energy source, opponents of the ban say.
Judge James Cain Jr. of the Western District of Louisiana handed down his opinion ending the LNG export ban on July 1, pending the outcome of the litigation. In doing so, Cain denied a motion by the Biden administration to have the case dismissed.
“The court does not consider (the) defendants’ action to be a garden-variety error of fact or law,” the judge said. “Instead, the court is more persuaded by the plaintiff states’ arguments that defendants’ actions were outside the scope of their authority and rooted in politics and (the) defendants’ climate change policies.”
The lawsuit was launched by 16 states through their attorneys general, including Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill. A similar lawsuit was co-filed in May by the New Orleans-based Pelican Institute for Public Policy and the Liberty Justice Center on behalf of oil industry workers.
“As Judge Cain mentioned in his ruling, there is roughly $61 billion of pending infrastructure at risk to our state from this illegal pause,” Murrill said in a prepared statement. “LNG has an enormous and positive impact on Louisiana, supplying clean energy for the entire world and providing good jobs here at home. The people of Louisiana are proud to power this nation and the world. A major victory for American energy,"
The American Petroleum Institute (API) also welcomed the halting of the LNG ban.
“We welcome (the) court decision as a positive signal for U.S. energy workers and our allies abroad,” Rob Jennings, the API’s vice president of Natural Gas Markets, said in a statement emailed to the Louisiana Record. The benefits of U.S. LNG exports are well-established – they help stabilize global energy markets, support thousands of American jobs and drive emissions reductions around the world by displacing dirtier fuels.”
The Biden administration should now begin approving permits to nations that it does not have free-trade agreements with as a way to demonstrate U.S. energy leadership, according to Jennings.
The plaintiff states had argued that the LNG ban went beyond the federal government’s statutory authority and against the will of Congress. But supporters of the ban argue that increased LNG exports would lead to higher energy prices for domestic natural gas users, including homeowners and business owners.
The president of the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association (LMOGA) welcomed the ruling as good news for the state’s energy industry.
“Louisiana is proudly home to three of the top eight domestic LNG export terminals,” Tommy Faucheux said in a prepared statement. “Louisiana LNG exports ensure the energy needs of our international allies are met without a threat to their national security and in a manner that supports our nation’s climate goals.”
Although the Biden administration favored a pause in new LNG exports in order to weigh environmental and climate-change issues, opponents of the ban have argued that clean-burning LNG from the Gulf region can displace the burning of dirtier fuels overseas and reduce atmospheric pollution.
“Tens of thousands of blue-collar Americans across the country depend on the LNG export industry to put food on the table,” James Baehr, the Pelican Institute’s special counsel, said in a statement. “And they aren’t the only ones – the American economy hinges on access to reliable sources of energy. The Biden administration’s ban not only threatens all of that, but also disregards federal law and damages the structure of our government.”