U.S. Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX) led a coalition of 44 Republicans in requesting information from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) regarding recent media reports that the Biden administration conducted, or began to conduct, a review of the economic and environmental impacts of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in 2023, but then covered up its findings because they were favorable to U.S. LNG.
President Joe Biden on Jan. 26 announced an indefinite ban on the issuance of export permits to non-free trade agreement countries while conducting a review to consider the climate impacts of U.S. LNG, according to an Oct. 24 letter the lawmakers sent to DOE Secretary Jennifer Granholm.
“The administration’s decision to ban LNG exports while it conducts an unnecessary study has had negative global economic and environmental impacts,” wrote Rep. Pfluger and his colleagues. “At a time of significant geopolitical instability, the ban has not only discouraged planned and needed investments in natural gas production and processing, but it has also jeopardized the American economy, our energy security, and the security of our allies.”
In court filings for the ongoing Freedom of Information Act case between the DOE and Government Accountability and Oversight, an independent watchdog group, the DOE “identified 97 potentially responsive documents totaling 4,354 pages” of LNG export studies performed by the National Energy Technology Lab between Jan. 1, 2023 and Oct. 31, 2023, according to their letter.
The watchdog group pointed out that “this confession that DOE indeed has copies of such a study on [LNG] exports strongly indicates that the administration has been telling a spectacular nontruth to the public about the basis” of its ongoing review, wrote the lawmakers.
“The lack of transparency from DOE regarding this process is extremely unsettling,” Rep. Pfluger and the members wrote, requesting that Granholm answer several questions by Nov. 8 about whether any analysis was conducted by the Biden administration prior to the president’s Jan. 26 LNG ban.
“The DOE’s lack of transparency is deeply troubling and has real-world implications for American energy security and global stability,” Rep. Pfluger said in an Oct. 25 statement. “The American people and our allies deserve to know why the Biden-Harris administration imposed an unnecessary ban that is hampering U.S. energy exports and ceding ground to foreign competitors.
“We are calling on Secretary Granholm and the DOE to answer our questions and produce any analysis or reports that justify this decision,” he said. “The American public has the right to understand the rationale behind these actions and how they impact our economy, national security, and environment.”
Among the members who cosigned the letter were U.S. Reps. Mike Carey (R-OH), Carol Miller (R-WV), Troy Balderson (R-OH), Michael Burgess (R-TX), Bob Latta (R-OH), Lloyd Smucker (R-PA), Buddy Carter (R-GA), Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA), John Joyce (R-PA), Kat Cammack (R-FL), Jay Obernolte (R-CA), Rudy Yakym (R-IN), Don Bacon (R-NE), and Mike Kelly (R-PA).