Ron DeSantis lashes out at Joe Biden over LNG export pause

Gov. Ron DeSantis may be off the 2024 presidential campaign trail, but that’s not stopping him from baiting national news hooks.

And that category includes the unlikely talking point of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), relevant in the news cycle in the wake of a Joe Biden administration pause on pending approvals of LNG exports.

A gassed-up Governor said the Biden moratorium was a literal head-scratcher.

“I saw this news with Biden shutting down LNG exports, or not supporting new terminals, and I just scratch my head and just wonder what is going on. We have so much energy in this country. To be able to export that to allied countries is huge for national security. You want to weaken China, Iran, Russia, Venezuela, export more LNG to countries around the world,” DeSantis said at a press conference in Central Florida.

The Governor went on Friday to forecast that the “developing world” is “going to power, they’re going to electrify.”

“They have a low standard of living, it will increase,” DeSantis argued, contending that if American LNG isn’t exported, then these societies will use coal power instead.

“And so I just scratch my head when I see that. I don’t know if that’s just virtue signaling to his base, but it is not good policy for this country. It’s not good economic policy, it’s not good energy policy and it’s not good for United States national security policy,” he counseled.

The Biden administration is indeed promulgating what it calls a “temporary pause on pending decisions on exports of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to non-FTA countries until the Department of Energy can update the underlying analyses for authorizations.”

Whether that will have long-term effects remains to be seen, but the White House is optimistic.

“The U.S. is already the number one exporter of LNG worldwide — with U.S. LNG exports expected to double by the end of this decade. At the same time, the U.S. remains unwavering in our commitment to supporting our allies around the world. Today’s announcement will not impact our ability to continue supplying LNG to our allies in the near-term.”