Climate activists declared victory after the Biden administration announced it was freezing new approvals to export liquefied natural gas, canceling a planned three-day sit-in at the US Energy Department.

“When we fight, we win,” said Roishetta Ozane, a frontline leader from Louisiana and founder of the Vessel Project, who was helping organize a protest at the Energy Department next month expected to be attended by hundreds as part of an effort to put a stop to the permitting of LNG facilities. 

Opponents of massive export terminals, such as one planned by Venture Global LNG Inc. in Louisiana, argue the infrastructure ensures the use of fossil fuels for decades to come and presents a litmus test for President Joe Biden’s commitment to fighting climate change. Among those who have taken up the cause in fighting the Venture Global project, known as CP2, is environmentalist Bill McKibben, who successfully led a push to block the Keystone XL pipeline a decade ago. 

“This pause on new LNG approvals sees the climate crisis for what it is: the existential threat of our time,” Biden said in a statement announcing the decision. “We will heed the calls of young people and frontline communities who are using their voices to demand action from those with the power to act.”