The Biden administration is delaying consideration of new natural gas export terminals in the United States, even as gas shipments to Europe and Asia have soared in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The election-year decision by President Joe Biden aligns with environmentalists who fear the huge increase in exports, in the form of liquefied natural gas or LNG, is locking in potentially catastrophic planet-warming emissions at a time when Biden has pledged to cut climate pollution in half by 2030.

“While MAGA Republicans willfully deny the urgency of the climate crisis, condemning the American people to a dangerous future, my administration will not be complacent,’’ Biden said in a statement. “We will not cede to special interests. 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.’’