"An Energy Department study concludes that unfettered U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, would harm the environment and the economy."

"The Biden administration on Tuesday released a long-awaited analysis of the dangers that liquefied natural gas exports pose to the environment and the economy, raising a potential hurdle to a central part of President-elect Donald Trump’s energy agenda.

The Energy Department study could undermine Trump’s plans to immediately issue permits for billions of dollars’ worth of facilities that export liquefied natural gas, or LNG. Environmentalists plan to cite the analysis in future lawsuits over the Trump administration’s approvals of these projects, which some have called “climate bombs” because of their enormous environmental footprints.

The incoming administration “clearly wants to take a different approach and start approving permits as fast as they can. But the study’s findings could complicate that approach,” said Ben Cahill, an energy scholar at the University of Texas at Austin."

Maxine Joselow reports for the Washington Post December 17, 2024. [2]