Federal Judge Pauses Granholm’s LNG Pause. What Happens Next?

What happens next when a permitting “pause” invoked by the executive branch of government is “paused” by the judicial branch? Participants in the US liquified natural gas (LNG) business will find out in the coming days after a federal judge in Louisiana sided with 16 plaintiff states, invoking a preliminary injunction which puts the Department of Energy’s pause on permitting for new LNG infrastructure on hold pending an administrative review.

In issuing his order, District Judge James Cain, Jr. called the justifications offered by the Department of Energy (DOE) for the pause "completely without reason or logic and is perhaps the epiphany of ideocracy,” echoing assessments of the policy move put forth by its critics since the policy was invoked by Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm in January. Cain added that DOE’s move was "above and beyond its scope of authority," adding that he had “reviewed the voluminous studies attached as exhibits, all of which boast of both the economic and environmental benefits of exporting natural gas."

[Note: This story is also published at Forbes.]