President Joe Biden’s decision to pause new exports of U.S. natural gas is rattling his allies in the essential swing state of Pennsylvania.

Democrats and labor unions in the state fear that the energy’s industry’s huge footprint there could make it a ripe target for GOP front-runner former President Donald Trump — even as environmentalists praised the move as a brave political action to protect the climate.

Biden’s reelection this year may hinge on whether he can hold the heavily working-class state he narrowly carried in 2020, which is now the second biggest natural gas producer in the country behind Texas. And while his move to reassess the climate impacts of natural gas shipments may have helped shore up support from young environmental activists, others are questioning his strategy.

Democratic Sens. Bob Casey, who is facing reelection this November, and John Fetterman, both argued the pause could hurt their state.

“Sen. Casey and I are very pro-energy, pro-job, pro-union and pro-American security," Fetterman told POLITICO. "We stand with the president, but on this issue we happen to disagree. I am very clear. Natural gas is necessary right now. It’s a critical part of our nation's energy stack.”

Republicans — including some who supported Biden over Trump — have said the gas export permit pause shows Biden is out of touch with working Americans.

"He calls himself Union Joe, but this decision to walk away from natural gas exports flies in the face of what he says about working class Americans,” said former Rep. Charlie Dent, a moderate Republican who represented central Pennsylvania and endorsed Biden in 2020. “He must not think their support is as valuable as the younger voters he is courting right now."

U.S. natural gas exports have surged in the past seven years as the fracking boom propelled production of the fuel to record levels. Companies are now shipping liquefied natural gas in tankers carrying more than 12 percent of that annual U.S. output abroad — a figure that is expected to at least double in the next few years as LNG plants that have already received permits come online.

Many Democrats in Congress have expressed concerns that the growing share of gas devoted to exports will raise domestic energy prices, while Republicans have sought to portray the pause as a “ban” on new shipments that hurts the U.S. industry and will slow global climate efforts.

The gas industry has created a split in Pennsylvania, turning some economically depressed communities in the western and northern parts of the state into boomtowns. But the drilling technology is effectively banned in the Delaware River water basin along the state’s northeastern border, where fears about drinking water contamination........

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