President Joe Biden is doing everything he possibly can to make progressives happy in advance of the upcoming presidential election.
The most recent way that he’s doing so is working to block the expansion of natural gas exports from the U.S. to other countries.
Many liberal voters have been souring on Biden during his administration, and that’s making him desperate to try to win them back. One of the ways that he can appeal to this cohort of voters is by passing climate change regulations and doing things such as stunting the exports of additional natural gas.
The far left has been trying to get the White House to reject multiple terminals that have been proposed to be constructed. These terminals would serve as shipping ports for natural gas that’s been produced in the U.S. and would be shipped around the world.
People who are against the proposed terminals say they could have a potential negative impact on climate change and the environment.
The Biden administration is apparently now succumbing to pressure from the left and will implement climate reviews that are stricter than normal for these projects, which ultimately could grind them to a halt.
Federal law already requires the White House to determine if such projects are in the “public interest” before they go ahead and approve them.
The Biden administration plans to increase those standards, reviewing the criteria that fits under the “public interest” umbrella, specifically whether considerations about the environment and climate should also be added, according to a recent Politico report.
A source who is close to the discussions about this told media outlet The Hill that the Biden administration is expected to make an announcement about these changes soon.
The source also added that while the White House is reviewing the “public interest” criteria, it likely will put a pause on approving any new projects.
According to a New York Times report, this is expected to cause a major delay for a huge gas terminal that’s being proposed and called CP2. Climate activists have specifically targeted this proposal when fighting for stricter climate change regulations.
Progressive voters have become very disillusioned with the Biden administration, much like a good portion of Americans. But, this cohort of voters is likely to prove to be key in the upcoming presidential election, as the president seemingly needs their strong backing if he wants to win reelection.
Harvard conducted a poll in the fall that showed that young voters are much less likely to vote in the 2024 presidential election than they were back in 2020. That would certainly create a bigger challenge to Biden, since young voters are a major reason why he defeated Republican Donald Trump the first time around.
In addition to climate change and environmental concerns, the progressive wing of the Democratic Party has been very critical of how Biden has handled Israel’s war with Gaza. They are also very concerned about his advanced age.
