(PatriotWise.com) — Louisiana Republican Senator John Kennedy revealed in late January that he would block all of President Biden’s State Department and Energy Department nominees until the administration resumes issuing permits for the export of liquified natural gas (LNG), Roll Call reported.
The Biden administration announced last Friday that it was pausing federal approval of several pending LNG projects while it conducted a review of the recent boom in exports to foreign nations.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told reporters that the pause would not impact exports that were already authorized, nor would it affect the United States’ ability to supply its allies who are already authorized to receive exports of LNG.
In a January 26 statement from the White House announcing the pause, the president linked the decision to climate change, saying that during the pause, the administration would “take a hard look” at the impact exports have on the environment, US “energy security,” and energy costs.
Biden claimed that unlike “MAGA Republicans,” who “willfully deny the urgency of the climate crisis,” his administration would “not be complacent” or “cede to special interests.”
In an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal last Monday, Senator Kennedy said the Biden administration’s efforts to appease climate change activists would “kill thousands of good jobs in my state” by harming the US natural gas industry.
Kennedy vowed to block the president’s nominees to both the State and Energy Departments until the administration reversed course on the export pause.
Comparing himself to “the Terminator,” Senator Kennedy vowed to “be back again and again” to block Biden’s nominees and “remind the world” that the president was “intentionally killing jobs” while threatening US national security, all to “placate confused climate extremists.”
The United States quickly became the world’s largest exporter of LNG after it began exports in 2016.
In his op-ed, Kennedy cited the planned Calcasieu Pass 2 facility in Louisiana as one of the projects that could be threatened by the administration’s pause.
According to Roll Call, the Calcasieu Pass 2 project is not affected by the pause at this time as its application is still being reviewed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. However, four other pending LNG projects are affected by the administration’s pause.
Copyright 2024, PatriotWise.com
