McClellan Helps Lead 70+ Senate, House Lawmakers Calling on Biden to Ensure LNG Exports Are Fully in the Public Interest

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan (VA-04), U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Jack Reed (D-RI), and Edward J. Markey (D-MA), and U.S. Representatives Jared Huffman (D-CA-02), Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ-07), Nanette Barragán (D-CA-44) and Adriano Espaillat (D-NY-13) led their colleagues on a bicameral letter thanking President Biden and Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Jennifer Granholm for pausing approvals of new liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports. The group applauds DOE for evaluating how such exports impact consumers, the climate, and vulnerable communities. The members urged the administration to develop meaningful economic and environmental tests to ensure that the DOE public interest determination criteria truly protect what is best for the public and climate.

“We believe the facts are clear: LNG exports harm U.S. households and industrial consumers,” the members said. “With our allies well-supplied by existing exports, we agree that now is the time to step back and examine the long-term impacts that additional U.S. LNG exports will have on American consumers, industries, and the environment.”

“This is an overdue opportunity to examine whether the LNG export boom creates value for the American people or, as we suspect, results in harm while primarily benefiting oil and gas companies that want to ship American LNG overseas for higher profits,” the members concluded.

The lawmakers went on to request specific changes to how the DOE evaluates new LNG projects, including:

• A test for the effects that export approvals will have on U.S. consumers, particularly low-income households, whose energy burden is typically three times higher.
   
• Evaluations of greenhouse gas emissions tied to the LNG supply chain against international and domestic climate targets and examined within the context of existing and proposed LNG export facilities. To do so, DOE should publish greenhouse gas emission estimates for each proposed project.
   
• Ensuring that its public interest determinations follow the letter and spirit of President Biden’s Executive Order on Revitalizing our Nation’s Commitment to Environmental Justice for All and account for cumulative impacts faced by frontline communities.

Click here to read a full copy of the letter.