Nonprofit representing oil and gas workers files suit over Biden's LNG pause

The Liberty Justice Center and Pelican Institute for Public Policy has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Oil & Gas Workers Association against President Joe Biden and the Department of Energy arguing that Biden’s pause on liquified natural gas (LNG) export permits is unconstitutional. 

The plaintiffs argue the decision violates constitutional separation of powers prohibiting the executive branch from creating laws and exceeds the agency’s authority. 

“The administration will continue to disregard the Constitution and federal law until a court upholds the rule of law—and our lawsuit aims to make sure the court will,” Loren Seehase, senior council with the Liberty Justice Center, said in a statement. 

The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana on Thursday, asks the court to set aside the order. 

The Oil & Gas Workers Association is a nonprofit trade association with 47,000 members and represents workers in the oil and gas industry, whose livelihoods, the association says, are threatened by the LNG export ban.

Since it was announced in January, the LNG export block has been the topic of a few Congressional hearings and lawsuits.