Climate Test for Natural Gas Exports

Politco notes Biden's Aides Weigh Climate Test for Natural Gas Exports.

The Biden administration is launching a review that could tap the brakes on the booming U.S. natural gas export industry — a move that threatens to pit the president's climate ambitions against his foreign policy agenda.

The review being led by the Department of Energy will examine whether regulators should take climate change into account when deciding whether a proposed gas export project meets the national interest, according to two people familiar with the action who were granted anonymity to discuss deliberations that have not yet been publicly acknowledged.

U.S. gas exports have jumped four-fold during the past decade as production has surged, turning the United States into the world's largest natural gas exporter and helping Europe replace Russian shipments after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. But Biden also faces growing pressure from environmental groups to live up to his pledge to transition away from fossil fuels — something the U.S. also promised to do at last month's climate summit in Dubai.

Roishetta Ozane, the founder of environmental group Vessel Project of Louisiana, welcomed the news that the Biden administration may be rethinking how it determines whether a proposed project is in the public interest. Ozane is among a group of green activists planning to protest next month at the Energy Department headquarters to pressure the administration to change how it evaluates export proposals.