White House Said to Delay Decision on Enormous Natural Gas Export Terminal

The Biden administration is pausing a decision on whether to approve what would be the largest natural gas export terminal in the United States, a delay that could stretch past the November election and spell trouble for that project and 16 other proposed terminals, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.

The White House is directing the Energy Department to expand its evaluation of the project to consider its impact on climate change, as well as the economy and national security, said these people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss internal deliberations. The Energy Department has never rejected a proposed natural gas project because of its expected environmental impact.

The move comes as Mr. Biden gears up for what is likely to be a contentious re-election campaign. He is courting climate voters, particularly the young activists who helped him win election in 2020 and who have been angered by his administration’s approval last year of the Willow project, an enormous oil drilling operation in Alaska.

It also comes as the United States leads the world in both liquefied natural gas exports and oil and gas production. The country has seven export terminals with five more already under construction. <Source>

New Biden Labor Dept. Rule Likely to Hurt Millions of Small Businesses, Independent Contractors

A new Biden administration Labor Department rule that significantly restricts the ability of businesses to hire contractors (also known as independent workers, freelancers or gig workers) will likely cripple small-business job creation.

Some 99% of American companies are small businesses, and 100% of businesses started out small, but a recently finalized rule from the Biden administration’s Labor Department will make it harder for small businesses to start, grow and succeed.

But a new Biden administration rule that significantly restricts the ability of businesses to hire contractors (also known as independent workers, freelancers or gig workers) will instead drive out small-business job creation.

Imagine a small landscaping company that has three employees and contracts with a half-dozen others for services, such as tree removal, stonework and lighting installation.

If the company owner had to treat those contract workers as formal employees, he would have to be in charge of, and liable for, the work they perform (even though he’s not an expert in, and does not supervise, their services); would have to restrict their hours; and provide various employee benefits and tax payments.

Under the Labor Department’s recently finalized rule that’s scheduled to take effect March 11, at least some of the factors specified in the rule would signal that these landscape service contractors should instead be treated as employees.

Since it’s unlikely that the owner could provide those contractors with enough work and because they likely want to have control over their work, the owner would likely have to cut ties with those contractors and stop offering their services.

But offering fewer services will make it harder to compete with bigger companies who have the scale and resources to employ specialized workers in-house.

In addition to constraints the rule will place on small businesses’ use of contractors, the rule is utterly confusing and ambiguous. While big businesses often have lawyers and “compensation, benefits, and job specialist analysts” to interpret the 106-page rule and try to determine the status of each of their employees and contractors, it will be far more difficult and costly for small businesses to attempt to understand and comply with the rule. <Source>