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FIRST ON FOX: A coalition of twenty-two Republican state attorneys normal are warning President Biden that his current moratorium on liquefied natural gas (LNG) export initiatives is illegal.
The prime state officers, led by Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, penned a letter to Biden and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, itemizing a collection of federal statutes the administration’s current actions allegedly violate and urging the pair to right away reverse course. The AGs additional argued that the coverage pausing LNG exports would hurt nationwide safety and have unfavorable financial impacts.
“Instead of addressing America’s real energy challenges, your administration has decided to double down on a reckless environmental agenda through this TikTok-inspired ‘pause,’” they wrote within the letter. “But this surprise freeze is (1) unlawful, (2) harmful to our economy, and (3) detrimental to our national security. It emboldens and empowers Iran and Russia, while further hampering our ability to protect ourselves.”
“Although your administration has put this country in a difficult situation through this LNG ‘pause,’ you still have time to change course. Your administration does not have to recklessly continue down an unlawful path that harms our economic and national security interests,” Kobach and the opposite lawyer normal continued. “You can and must reverse course by immediately ending this ‘pause.'”
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Republican Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach speaks at a press convention outdoors his workplace in Topeka on May 1, 2023. (AP Photo/John Hanna/File)
Late final month, Biden ordered the Department of Energy (DOE) to pause pending permits for LNG export services whereas federal officers conduct a rigorous environmental assessment assessing the initiatives’ carbon emissions, which may take greater than a yr to finish. The motion represents a significant victory for activists who’ve loudly known as for such a transfer, even threatening to carry giant protests over the difficulty.
The president stated the pause on LNG allowing was part of his sweeping local weather agenda, including the motion “sees the climate crisis for what it is: the existential threat of our time.” He additionally took intention at “MAGA Republicans” for willfully denying the “urgency of the climate crisis.”
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However, of their letter, the attorneys normal argue DOE fails to establish underneath which authority it’s pausing LNG exports. The company, they write, “literally has no power to act — including under its regulations — unless and until Congress authorizes it to do so by statute,” including that DOE as an alternative justified its actions by pointing to a climate-focused government order Biden issued.
The attorneys normal additional argue that DOE can’t depend on the 1938 Natural Gas Act, which requires the company to approve functions to export LNG to non-Free Trade Agreement nations until such exportation isn’t “consistent with the public interest.”
President Biden ordered pending natural gas export initiatives to be halted in a shocking transfer Friday. The motion was cheered by environmentalists who oppose fossil gas growth. (Getty Images)
“Here, you have signaled every intention to deny a sweeping category of exports based on allusions to environmental harms,” they added within the letter. “Your administration and its allies appear to be “seizing on regulatory loopholes and prejudging the outcomes of difficult coverage evaluation.”
“Agency predetermination is dangerous sufficient, however it’s doubly flawed when it conflicts with Congress’s categorical objective in enacting the statute.”
In addition, they say DOE’s moratorium could give rise to legal responsibility underneath the Administrative Procedure Act “for unreasonable delay.” That 1946 law mandates federal agencies provide sufficient reasoning for rules and regulations they implement.
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Under the Administrative Procedure Act, federal agencies are prohibited from creating an “unreasonable delay” when fulfilling a congressional requirement. Since DOE is indefinitely pausing LNG export permits, which it is required to issue under the Natural Gas Act, the attorneys general said the agency’s actions amount to such an unreasonable delay.
They also said LNG export terminals must already go through an environmental review when they are approved by the independent Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). LNG export projects must first survive FERC’s lengthy approval process before they are even ripe for DOE approval.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said her agency is committed to “defending Americans in opposition to local weather change as we lead the world right into a clear power future” after announcing the moratorium last month. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images)
The attorneys general also argued that, beyond “unreasonable delay,” DOE’s moratorium fails to stay “inside the bounds of reasoned decision-making” as required by federal statute. And the agency never opened the decision up for a public comment period before implementing it, another potential statutory violation.
“The Biden Admin’s hatred of American power has reached a brand new excessive,” Kobach told Fox News Digital in a statement. “This moratorium on liquefied natural gas exports is each unlawful and irrational. This natural gas coverage goes to explode within the Administration’s face.”
“The individuals of Louisiana are proud to energy this nation. Joe Biden’s newest assault on LNG exports threatens 1000’s of jobs and billions of {dollars} in infrastructure funding in our state,” added Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill. “It additionally creates worldwide instability and hurts growing democracies worldwide. I received’t permit this president to carry our individuals and our financial system hostage.”
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In their letter, the attorneys general echoed energy industry associations and Republican lawmakers, saying that the DOE’s moratorium weakens national security and emboldens Russia and other adversaries who are large producers of natural gas.
An LNG carrier ship is docked at the Cheniere Energy terminal in a photograph taken over Sabine Pass, Texas. (Lindsey Janies/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
In December 2023, more than 87% of U.S. LNG exports went to Europe, U.K. or Asian markets. In the aftermath of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, energy experts argued LNG exports would be critical for helping American allies to wean off Russian gas.
And the industry has cited research indicating that LNG exports could add as much as $73 billion to the U.S. economy by 2040, create 453,000 American jobs and increase U.S. purchasing power by $30 billion.
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“We hoped that your administration would have thought of this and the financial and nationwide safety implications earlier than asserting the pause, however this doesn’t seem like the case,” the letter concluded.
“This choice harms our nationwide safety and can price lives. We urge your administration to cease making choices based mostly on the whims of social media influencers and deal with this matter severely by reversing this reckless choice.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.
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