Apple Lamps@lamps_apple
On January 26th, 2024, Joe Biden froze all new permits for LNG export terminals. A TikToker met with White House climate advisors, the Sunrise Movement called it "monumental," Climate Defiance called it "the most significant move any President has ever made on stopping fossil fuels," and Senator Jeff Merkley said LNG was "actually worse for the environment than coal."
170 scientists signed a letter to Biden "imploring" him to ban new LNG terminals. The White House published a press release celebrating the decision. The Sierra Club cheered. Food & Water Watch cheered. The entire progressive climate apparatus celebrated what they believed was the beginning of the end for American natural gas exports.
The pause froze permits for roughly 19 billion cubic feet per day of LNG export capacity that had been approved but hadn't broken ground yet. That is more capacity than the United States currently has operational. Biden's DOE said the review would take at least 12-15 months. Everyone understood the real timeline... it was designed to run past the 2024 election and potentially never conclude if the right candidate won.
A federal judge in Louisiana struck down the pause in July 2024. Biden's DOE slow-walked compliance. The permits didn't move. The projects stalled. Financing dried up because banks wouldn't fund terminals with uncertain regulatory futures. Wood Mackenzie warned that "buyers could start to look at competing projects outside of the US, such as those in Canada, Australia and particularly Qatar, as alternative supply sources."
Qatar. That's the place to remember.
Biden's LNG pause told the world that the United States was an unreliable supplier. That American energy policy could change overnight because a TikToker got a meeting at the White House. That terminals costing $10-20 billion each could be frozen mid-approval by executive whim. That the world's largest LNG exporter was governed by people who considered its primary export product "worse than coal."
The world's energy buyers heard that message and made the rational decision. They signed more contracts with Qatar. QatarEnergy expanded. Qatar's reputation as the world's most reliable LNG supplier strengthened... because America's reputation as a reliable supplier was being actively sabotaged by its own government.
Trump reversed the pause on Day One. January 20th, 2025. Executive Order 14154, "Unleashing American Energy." The DOE resumed permit processing immediately. Commonwealth LNG in Louisiana received the first approval on February 14th, 2025. Energy Secretary Chris Wright declared a return to "regular order." The pipeline of pending projects... CP2 in Louisiana, Sabine Pass expansion, Lake Charles terminal, Port Arthur Phase 2 in Texas... began moving again.
But time was lost. Fourteen months of frozen permits. Fourteen months of stalled financing. Fourteen months of uncertainty that pushed buyers toward Qatar and away from the United States. Fourteen months during which terminals that could have been under construction sat on paper. Each of those terminals takes three to five years to build after approval. Every month of delay in 2024 is a month of lost capacity in 2028 or 2029.
Now look at today. March 19th, 2026.
Qatar just lost 17% of its LNG export capacity for three to five years. Iranian missiles damaged two LNG trains and a GTL facility at Ras Laffan. QatarEnergy CEO Saad al-Kaabi confirmed $20 billion per year in lost revenue. Force majeure declared on contracts to Italy, Belgium, South Korea, and China. 12.8 million tons per year offline. The world's "most reliable" LNG supplier just became unreliable overnight... because it sits next to a war zone that American climate activists never thought to factor into their environmental models.
The buyers who signed long-term contracts with Qatar because Biden's pause made America look unreliable are now receiving force majeure notices. The contracts they chose over American supply are being broken by Iranian missiles. The terminals Biden froze could have been under construction right now... adding the capacity that the world desperately needs and that America is uniquely positioned to provide.
The math is simple and devastating. The United States has roughly 15 billion cubic feet per day of operational LNG capacity. Another 17 bcf/d is under construction. Another 19 bcf/d has been approved but hasn't broken ground... the capacity Biden froze. If those frozen terminals had been approved on schedule in early 2024 and broken ground immediately, some would be approaching operational status in 2027-2028. Instead, they're just now restarting the approval process after fourteen months of lost time.
Every month of Biden's LNG pause is a month that American export capacity won't be available when the world needs it most. Every terminal that was delayed is a terminal that won't be shipping gas to Europe and Asia during the three-to-five-year window when Qatar's capacity is crippled. Every buyer who went to Qatar because Biden made America look unreliable is now scrambling for replacement supply that America could have been providing.
Biden's climate advisors met with a TikToker and decided the future of global energy security. The 170 scientists who signed the letter wanted to save the planet from American natural gas. Senator Merkley called LNG "worse than coal." The Sunrise Movement called the pause "a huge win."
Today, Asian LNG prices are above $25 per million BTU and climbing. European gas prices have surged 50% since the war began. South Korea, which gets 65% of its helium from Qatar, is scrambling to keep its semiconductor fabs running. Italy, Belgium, and China are staring at force majeure notices from a supplier whose facilities are burning.
And somewhere in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, a $10 billion LNG terminal that should have been under construction fourteen months ago is still waiting for the paperwork Biden's DOE refused to process because a climate activist on TikTok told them not to.
The world needed American LNG. Biden said no. The world went to Qatar. Iran destroyed Qatar's infrastructure. The world needs American LNG again... more desperately than ever... and the capacity that could have been ready isn't, because one administration decided that appeasing its youngest, loudest, least informed voters was more important than the energy security of the free world.
Trump lit the fuse on Day One. Reversed the pause. Approved the permits. Unleashed the energy. But fourteen months of sabotage can't be erased with an executive order. The terminals take years to build. The lost time is permanent. And every day between now and when those terminals come online is a day the world pays the price for a decision made in a White House meeting with a TikToker.
Energy policy is national security. Biden forgot that. The world is remembering it right now... at $25 gas in Asia, $113 oil in Europe, and force majeure notices from a burning LNG facility in Qatar.
Trump said the war on American energy was over. He was right. But the damage from the last one hasn't finished arriving yet.
