North Slope Gas Pipeline Reapproved by DOE

The Department of Energy late last week reapproved a proposal to export liquified methane gas extracted from Alaska’s North Slope, giving the Biden administration’s imprimatur to a project first signed off upon by the previous administration and drawing sharp criticism from climate advocates. “Joe Biden’s climate presidency is flying off the rails,” said Lukas Ross of Friends of the Earth, with this being the administration’s second approval of a “fossil fuel mega-project” in two months.

The proposed $39 billion project, which still may not be built, would include constructing an 807-mile pipeline to transport gas that would cut the state in half, running from the North Slope oil and gas operations to a liquefaction facility in Nikiski, on the south-central coast of Alaska. Once liquified, the methane gas would mainly be exported to buyers in Asia and the entire project would be responsible for approximately 18 million tons of climate pollution — roughly equivalent to the annual climate pollution of 3.5 million gasoline-powered passenger vehicles — about half of which would come from the proposed LNG terminal, according to Oil and Gas Watch. (The Guardian, E&E $, AP, Reuters, The Hill, Anchorage Daily News, Natural Gas Intel)