June 27 (Reuters) - Federal regulators on Thursday

approved a Louisiana liquefied natural gas project that has been

a lightning rod for environmental activists and a litmus test

for the Biden administration's energy policies.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission voted 2-1 to allow

construction and operation of the Calcasieu Pass 2 LNG plant and

a related, 85-mile-long (137 km) pipeline.

The multi-billion-dollar export plant proposed by Venture

Global LNG would supply 20 million metric tons a year of the

superchilled gas to customers in Europe, Japan, China and to

U.S. exporters. Venture Global was not immediately available for

comment.

The project has drawn the ire of environmentalists who

say the project would entrench the use of fossil fuels that

contribute to climate warming and emit tons of pollution into

the surrounding communities.

FERC's approval clears the way for Reston, Virginia-based

Venture Global LNG to become the second-largest U.S. LNG

exporter, behind Cheniere Energy. The company has two

plants operating or under development in Louisiana and aims to

build 100 million tons of LNG capacity in the future.

The plant is the first to win a construction authorization

since the administration of President Joe Biden in January put a

pause on future LNG export permits to review economic and

environmental implications. That review is expected to wrap up

after the U.S. presidential election in November.

Environmental activist Bill McKibben called the FERC

approval a travesty for science and environmental justice and

said it was made in the midst of the hottest summer in human

history.

"It underscores just how crucial and brave Biden's

decision to pause new permits may turn out to be. It's now the

only defense against the indefensible," said McKibben, who is

also a Schumann Distinguished Scholar at Middlebury College.