Fox News continues to make misleading statements about President Joe Biden’s commitment to providing liquefied natural gas exports to Europe, which has sought to move away from relying on Russian energy since the country invaded Ukraine in 2022. 

On January 26, the White House announced it would be reviewing the process it uses to evaluate whether new LNG export facilities are in the public interest, “with the exception of unanticipated and immediate national security emergencies.” In the years since this process was last updated, scientists have published important new research concerning the likely underestimated health and environmental impacts of methane pollution. Now, the Department of Energy is set to pause approvals for some new facilities that are pending while it reconsiders how the construction would drive climate change.

Importantly, this decision will not restrict gas supplies to Europe. Several new export facilities have already been approved or are under construction, and those projects will not be affected by the recent announcement. But that hasn’t stopped Fox personalities from claiming that Biden’s decision is akin to abandoning our European allies to the benefit of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

During a February 22 interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Fox News anchor Bret Baier claimed that the Biden administration is “stopping the selling of liquid natural gas, which means that Russia may actually start selling liquid natural gas to Europe again. Do you have a problem with that?” Zelensky replied that European countries are “becoming independent from the energy standpoint.”

Baier pushed back, telling Zelensky that while the Biden administration is “trying to support you [and] push back on Russia, at the same time, in essence, by a climate change rule, they are supporting Russia to get more money.”

Speaking with the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine in a February 21 segment of America’s Newsroom, Fox anchor Dana Perino referenced the “fallout from President Biden's decision to end all LNG permitting,” suggesting the announcement would undermine U.S. aid to Ukraine and strengthen Russia’s position. 

Perino then questioned Ambassador Bridget Brink whether she would “ask the Biden administration to reverse that LNG permitting decision.” After Brink correctly pointed out that “we've been increasing our LNG exports for quite a while now,” Perino again insisted that “the president just ended all of the new permits,” even though he did no such thing.

“The president canceled all new natural gas contracts,” Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade claimed in a February 16 segment. “And when you stop the contracts on natural gas, that’s got to get our allies who are right in what would be the battlefront nervous.”

This statement, too, is completely false. The U.S. is still the world’s largest liquefied natural gas supplier, exporting LNG to Europe and Asia at record levels in 2023. And as Business Insider notes, our export capacity is set to nearly double by 2028, “when at least five more terminals could be online. The expansion isn't impacted by the White House's pause, which only applies to terminals that haven't received federal approval yet.”