| The Biden administration may back yet another big fossil fuel project in Alaska, thanks in part to a boost from the president’s landmark climate law. Environmentalists are calling the project — which would export liquefied natural gas produced on the state’s North Slope — a “carbon bomb 10 times worse” than the Willow oil drilling effort the Interior Department approved in March. (The administration says that comparison most likely exaggerates the project's impact.) The Alaska LNG project looked like it was on life support under the Trump administration, but its supporters say key State Department officials are pushing for its approval as allies like Japan clamor for American gas, Ben Lefebvre writes. Should the project get an official green light, the move would further complicate President Joe Biden’s climate legacy. Last year’s climate law included an unprecedented $369 billion in clean energy funding, and Biden has worked to boost international support for countering the Earth’s warming, including recently pledging $1 billion to help developing countries fight climate change. But the administration has also faced criticism from some green groups for approving oil and gas permits at a rapid clip while OKing Willow, amid warnings from scientists that global carbon emissions need to plunge to avoid the worst impacts of rising temperatures. If completed, Alaska LNG would ship as much as 20 million tons of liquefied natural gas each year. The State Department estimates that would release 1.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere over the 30 years it is projected to operate — equivalent to burning more than 8 million rail cars of coal. Why now? The Energy Department granted Alaska LNG a key export permit last month, making it the only new and fully permitted natural gas export plant on the West Coast. That review was purely technical and did not confer a commercial blessing on the project, a DOE official said in an interview this afternoon. That comes as U.S. allies in Asia and Europe look to replace gas from Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Biden’s ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, has promoted the project, calling it a way for Japan to become “the energy export hub for the Indo-Pacific” and reduce its coal dependency. The project also hit the congressional lottery. The carbon capture credits included in the climate law means Alaska LNG could make as much as $600 million annually using its planned carbon capture technology. It also became eligible for billions of dollars in federal loan guarantees in the 2021 infrastructure law (thanks to language from Alaska’s Republican senators). The White House has declined to comment on questions about Alaska LNG. And the project may still be felled by high costs, analysts say. Among the challenges: Developers still need to construct an 800-mile pipeline to transport the liquefied natural gas from Alaska’s North Slope to the export facility on the southern coast.
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