The Biden administration this week appealed a Louisiana federal court decision that halted its pause on LNG exports – a pause that has garnered bipartisan backlash, especially with key swing state Democrats in places like Pennsylvania.
Now, as Vice President Kamala Harris debuted her Presidential ticket in Pennsylvania – the second largest natural gas producing state – and will surely be campaigning there often, she should be asked: does she stand by the administration’s decision to indefinitely pause LNG exports, even in the face of a court injunction? Or by the Pennsylvania electorate that widely disapproves of the pause?
Here’s the facts:
Fact #1: VP Kamala Harris has begun reversing her stance on her most extreme anti-energy positions – but many questions remain.
Less than a month into her campaign, Harris has already distanced herself from past anti-energy positions. This includes no longer supporting a fracking ban—despite repeatedly endorsing a ban, even on private property, while a candidate – in an attempt to moderate herself ahead of the election.
However, climate activists are rallying behind Harris as “one of them,” in hopes that she will “go even further” on key climate issues. And, with her choosing Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as Vice President, it’s seen as a shift left for her campaign on environmental issues.
The LNG pause – a key energy issue of the year – puts this quandary of the Democratic divide center stage: those who support energy development against those that who want to shut it all down.
Will Harris distance herself from the LNG pause like she has with a fracking ban, even as her own administration fights to keep it? Or side with environmentalists who pushed the pause but are at odds with key energy voters?
Fact #2: The Biden administration has doubled down on the LNG pause.
Judge James Cain of the U.S. District Court for Western Louisiana ruled last month against the DOE pause for new LNG permits saying it was:
“[C]ompletely without reason or logic and is perhaps the epiphany of ideocracy.”
Despite this, the administration is showing no signs of pivoting on the policy, and is in fact doubling down by appealing Cain’s order, proving that a true environmental analysis was never the intended goal, but a backdoor attempt to end natural gas exports.
Fact #3: The pause is a political tactic meant to appease environmental activists.
The pause has been widely recognized as a politically motivated decision to appeal to environmentalists. In fact, billionaire activists like the Rockefellers and Michael Bloomberg have claimed credit for the pause. Similarly, in March, activist research Dr. Robert Howarth—known for his widely debunked research by the scientific community—openly admitted that his research on LNG life cycle emissions was prematurely released with the ultimate goal of getting rid of natural gas entirely. Adding to this, the Breakthrough Institute recently published an analysis reviewing Howarth’s LNG work and described it as “riddled with errors.”
Fact #4: The LNG pause has resulted in bipartisan condemnation, especially from Pennsylvania Democrats – including Harris’ VP runner-up.
Pennsylvania Democrats have broken with the Biden administration to oppose the LNG pause. Once again, is a clear example of the divide between those Democrats who support developing our resources, and those who don’t. Senators John Fetterman (D-PA) and Bob Casey (D-PA) have said:
“While the immediate impacts on Pennsylvania remain to be seen, we have concerns about the long-term impacts that this pause will have on the thousands of jobs in Pennsylvania’s natural gas industry. If this decision puts Pennsylvania energy jobs at risk, we will push the Biden Administration to reverse this decision.”
Pennsylvania Governor and runner-up vice presidential candidate for Harris, Josh Shapiro, has also stressed the need for the pause to be swift, citing its impact on jobs:
“It’s my hope that that pause is limited and that their focus of whatever analysis they’re going to do is centered around making sure we create jobs in the energy space in Pennsylvania.”
Pennsylvania voters have similarly shown widespread disapproval of the LNG pause with polling from the PA Alliance for Energy finding that 58 percent of voters surveyed disapprove of the moratorium.
Bottom line: As Vice President Kamala Harris campaigns in pivotal oil and natural gas producing states, she is coincidentally (or not) beginning to distance herself from past anti-energy stances. However, voters deserve to know where she really stands on these critical issues.
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