Biden delays massive natural gas project that climate voters despise

President Joe Biden has pumped the brakes on a massive fossil fuel project deeply despised among climate voters ahead of the November presidential election.

Calcasieu Pass 2 (CP2), planned to be the biggest natural gas export terminal in the country, is being delayed for further evaluation of its impacts on the climate crisis and other issues, The New York Times first reported on Wednesday. The Independent has contacted the White House for comment.

The project falls under the remit of the US Energy Department, which has never rejected a natural gas project due to potential environmental issues, The Times noted.

Voters, particularly young people who prioritise climate issues, backed Mr Biden in the 2020 election after he promised to fight the “existential” battle of the climate crisis. However, they have become increasingly disillusioned after major oil and gas operations have been greenlit including the vast Willow project in Alaska.

Even as the US touted itself as a climate leader on the global stage, it remained the world’s largest exporter of liquified natural gas, or LNG, outstripping its closest competitors, Qatar and Australia. Most of the US-produced LNG is going to Europe after the bloc weaned itself off Russian gas in the wake of the Ukraine war.

Natural gas, a fossil fuel, is largely made of methane – which has 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide in the short term. At the Cop28 climate summit in Dubai last month, US presidential climate envoy John Kerry emphasised the importance of cutting methane emissions to keep the global goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees within reach.

Frontline activists from Louisiana and national environmental organizations gather outside the Department of Energy in