WaPo editorial board: Biden LNG export pause will cause economic turmoil, do little for environment

The Washington Post's editorial board has joined in the criticism to President Joe Biden’s pause on liquified natural gas  export permits.

The board on Monday called the pause “an election-year sop to climate activists” that will upset U.S. alliances more than it will save the planet.

The board also argued natural gas provides 22% of the global primary energy consumption. Though it’s a fossil fuel, the board said, it produces less pollution and carbon dioxide emissions than coal, and it will, according to the International Energy Agency projections, be crucial to the world’s energy mix well into the future.

The energy supplies, the board also argued, are especially important to Europe, and without increased export capacity, which will be limited by the pause over the next 25 years, energy prices in Europe will see significant increases.

“You cannot change demand for energy by destroying supply: If the United States did indeed curtail LNG exports, it would just drive customers into the arms of competitors such as Australia, Qatar, Algeria and, yes, Russia,” the board said.