>> FACT SHEET: Biden- Harris Administration Announces Temporary Pause on Pending Approvals of Liquefied Natural Gas Exports

The administration here more or less admits high energy prices are driving inflation. Otherwise, why would they pause new LNG export licenses, even to Europe, where we're fighting a proxy war with Russia and US LNG exports offer a way to hurt Russia and its economy and help our allies at the same time? The climate argument doesn't hold much water, since it isn't clear it won't just mean increased domestic consumption--given that greater supply will, and in fact has, result it much lower prices (which last checked are at pandemic levels)--and even if it does mean less foreign consumption, it could be offset by more consumption of coal and other environmentally worse alternatives to LNG.

It's clearly a last-ditch effort by the administration to pull on a deflationary lever before the election.