Ted Cruz Looks To Shield Key Gas Projects From Activist Lawsuits

Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz introduced legislation Wednesday that would provide protections for liquefied natural gas (LNG) developments against lawsuits that threaten the projects.

The Protect LNG Act of 2025 — also sponsored by Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas, Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Tim Scott of South Carolina — would ensure that federal courts cannot vacate previously-authorized LNG permits, will send lawsuits against LNG facilities to federal courts in the jurisdictions in which the developments are located and establish a 90-day window for legal challenges against permits to be filed, according to the bill’s text. Environmental activist groups have consistently sued to block LNG facilities in recent years, and the Biden administration unilaterally paused approvals for new LNG export terminals in January 2024.

“American energy has the ability to metaphorically and literally power the world, and Texas is the lead exporter of U.S. LNG. Those achievements have been under attack by fringe environmental groups, who use and are enabled by politicized courts,” Cruz said in a statement shared with the DCNF. “This legislation counters such attacks, and I’m proud to lead the fight to protect energy producers, the jobs they create in Texas, and America’s energy leadership. The Senate should expeditiously take it up and pass it.”

Protect LNG Act 2025 by audreystreb on Scribd

Cruz and Cornyn commended the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit’s March decision to reinstate approvals for the Rio Grande LNG and Texas LNG Brownsville projects after the court initially vacated key permits for both developments in August 2024.

“Radical activists are using the courts to block or delay key energy projects that have already been approved — ultimately threatening jobs, driving up costs, and undermining our national security,” Scott said in a statement shared with the DCNF. “I’m proud to support legislation that doesn’t just keep the lights on, but keeps our country strong, competitive, and in control of its future.”

The American LNG industry has emerged as a giant in the energy sector in recent decades, with the U.S. now leading the world in LNG exports after being projected to be a net importer as late as 2010, according to S&P Global.

The environmental lobby celebrated Biden’s January 2024 move to freeze new LNG export terminals, though critics argued that the policy stalled investment, would not reduce emissions and undermined America’s global strategic interests. Notably, the Biden administration also “intentionally buried” data that showed the benefits of the energy technology and would have ostensibly undercut their move to freeze approvals, the DCNF reported previously.

President Donald Trump’s administration has been busy approving LNG projects, and analysts expect the industry to continue growing.

Cruz also introduced the Protect LNG Act with Cornyn in September 2024, a month after the D.C. Circuit’s initial decision to vacate the permits for Rio Grande LNG and Texas LNG Brownsville. Companion legislation for the 2025 version of the bill was also introduced in the House by Republican Texas Rep. Wesley Hunt.

“Oil and natural gas production employs hundreds of thousands of hardworking Texans and is a critical part of the Texas economy, as well as our nation’s energy sector as a whole,” Cornyn said in a statement shared with the DCNF. “I am proud to lead this bill alongside Sen. Cruz to help protect energy projects across our country from lawsuits that far-left climate activists file in an attempt to hamstring American energy.”