Exclusive: Ted Cruz unveils bill to help shield key natural gas projects from ‘frivolous’ lawsuits

Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz introduced a new bill Friday designed to limit liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects’ exposure to questionable legal challenges from eco-activists.

Cruz’s “Protect LNG Act of 2024” would limit the window in which issued LNG permits can be challenged to 90 days and ensure that judges can only remand challenged permits to the relevant agencies instead of unilaterally vacating them, among other steps to protect the development of LNG export terminals. The bill is also being sponsored by Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn.

“Texas energy producers have made the United States the largest exporter of liquefied natural gas in the world and have created jobs for thousands of Texans,” Cruz said in a statement shared with the Daily Caller News Foundation. “However, fringe environmental groups and politicized courts are threatening those successes, and in the process endangering the development of energy projects across the United States. The Protect LNG Act protects energy producers from these attacks.”

Protect LNG Act of 2024 by Nick Pope on Scribd

Additionally, the bill would also require challenges targeting LNG facilities to be heard in the federal appeals court representing the geographic area where the facility in question is physically located. Moreover, the legislation also would instruct relevant courts to hear challenges to LNG-related permits and approvals to expedite their reviews.

“As the leading producer of oil and natural gas in the nation, Texas plays a key role in supporting thousands of well-paying jobs at home and keeping the lights on across the country,” Cornyn said in a statement shared with the DCNF. “This legislation will help crack down on frivolous lawsuits by left-wing climate activists who seek to weaponize our courts and threaten American energy, and I’m glad to join Sen. Cruz in halting this effort and maintaining Texas’ energy dominance.”

The bill’s introduction is timely given that two major projects — Rio Grande LNG and Texas LNG — have been put in limbo after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit sided with environmental groups in August and vacated key approvals that had been issued by Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Cruz wrote to FERC Commissioner Willie Phillips on Wednesday, urging the regulator to appeal that ruling and seek a stay while the appellate process plays out.

“There is no precedent for this decision,” Cruz wrote in his letter to Phillips, referencing the D.C. Circuit’s decision. “Charles McConnell, the former Assistant Secretary of Energy at the Department of Energy in President Barack Obama’s Administration says ‘If allowed to stand, the precedent from this ruling would be absolutely draconian to investment progress.’”

LNG has become a salient issue in American politics, particularly following the Biden-Harris administration’s decision to freeze new and pending approvals for LNG export terminals in January. The well-funded environmentalist lobby celebrated the moratorium, but critics have slammed the move on the grounds that it chills investment, does not actually reduce emissions, and potentially undermines America’s geopolitical interests.

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