President Biden jolted the energy and climate worlds by pausing liquefied natural gas export approvals, and in doing so stirred up several political and business risks ahead of the 2024 election.

The big picture: The Energy Department announced on Friday it would freeze new permits as officials reassess the climate, energy security and market effects.

Why it matters: The decision has already become part of Trump vs. Biden, the sequel. On Friday, the former president and presumptive GOP nominee released a statement bashing the decision.

A study from Cornell University released last November suggested that LNG is worse for the climate than coal. Little did anyone know at the time that this study would put the U.S. federal government in a dilemma at a time when the country leads the world in LNG exports.

The nature of the dilemma is of the sort that could put a quick end to that leadership. Either that or cost the Democrats some votes from environmentalists.

President Joe Biden’s pause on approvals for pending liquefied natural gas export terminals Friday was met with deeply divided responses, earning praise from Democrats and environmental groups while sparking fierce backlash from Republicans and industry groups.

Biden, for his part, said in a statement that the pause “sees the climate crisis for what it is: the existential threat of our time.”

Here’s an early look at the winners and losers from the project pause:

Jigar Shah, who runs the Energy Department’s loan program, is trying to hand out a lot of money for green-technology projects, while navigating an unforgiving political environment

The U.S. Department of Energy got ransom requests from the Russia-linked extortion group Cl0p at both its nuclear waste facility and scientific education facility that were recently hit in a global hacking campaign, a spokesperson said on Friday.

The DOE contractor Oak Ridge Associated Universities and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, the New Mexico-based facility for disposal of defense-related radioactive nuclear waste, were hit in the attack, which was first reported on Thursday.

Several U.S. federal agencies and some companies have been targeted by a global cyberattack allegedly carried out by a Russian-linked ransomware gang, officials revealed Thursday.

Eric Goldstein, executive assistant director for cybersecurity at the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), told CNN Thursday that the agency was "providing support to several federal agencies that have experienced intrusions affecting their MOVEit applications."

The Biden administration announced its latest home appliance regulations this week, targeting air conditioners in an action it said would reduce the nation's carbon emissions.

The regulations, unveiled Thursday by the Department of Energy (DOE), finalize energy efficiency standards for home air conditioning units, or window air conditioners, and portable air cleaners. The DOE said the move would cut air pollution and push consumer costs down by billions of dollars via energy savings.