The Biden-Harris administration may have decided to freeze certain liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects based on gross deception, according to a government watchdog group.
In January, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced a moratorium on new and pending approvals for certain LNG export terminals, to ensure that new capacity approvals continue, and to ensure the environmental, economic, and security benefits of LNG exports. It is necessary to consider the potential impact of public interest. An ongoing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) legal battle between the agency and an independent group called Government Accountability and Oversight (GAO) leaves the administration unable to actually launch such a review in 2023 before effectively killing it. It has become clear that this has been implemented, or may have begun to be implemented. Although this may lead to politically inconvenient conclusions, According to To Mr. Gao.
If the GAO is correct, the Biden-Harris administration has essentially deceived the public in an election year by enacting policies that undermine America's geopolitical interests and discourage investment in domestic energy projects. . Very pleased The well-funded environmental lobby is spending millions to support Democrats this election cycle. The DOE did not respond to multiple requests for comment on this matter. (Related article: The entire effort to halt new natural gas exports traces its origins to an Ivy League professor and his shaky research.)
Biden allies sue to block large natural gas export project https://t.co/w9C8gBVwYV
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Gao submitted be narrowly tailored LNG exports submitted by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) to DOE's Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management between January 1, 2023 and October 31, 2023 by filing a FOIA request with DOE in June. called for an investigation. The group also requested any emails. Send these documents from NETL to the same DOE branch office.
The FOIA request was then subject to GAO. lawsuit Against the DOE. During the legal battle, the DOE ultimately Conceded a point GAO says it has 97 documents totaling several thousand pages that could meet the parameters set out in its request for research on LNG exports.
Additionally, the federal government may “seek deadline extensions, ignore deadlines, file stay-of-judgment motions, or attempt to further delay multiple separate GAO FOIA actions by consolidating them into one complex lawsuit.” Chris Horner, one of the GAO's lawyers, said the process was slowed down by “a lot of things.” told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“GAO has already in a significant way forced the obstructing DOE to finally admit that it did indeed have that description in the 2023 study meeting and that it was sent to senior political appointees at the Biden-Harris DOE.” It's a victory. It's gone into the ether,” Horner told DCNF. “The number of pages acknowledged by the DOE confirms that this research is indeed quite advanced, and why else would it have been picked up by the top political establishment — and perhaps as we were informed?” It is possible that it was completed before it was buried.
The freeze was widely seen as part of the Biden-Harris administration's climate change movement. Economically and geopolitically, the freeze increased While supporting LNG production in foreign countries with lower environmental standards, such as Russia and Qatar, it increases uncertainty for those wishing to invest in major infrastructure projects.
Notably, NETL has previously conducted a review of the emissions impacts of LNG exports. 2014 and 2019found in each case that U.S. LNG exports to Asia and Europe do not produce more lifecycle emissions than locally mined coal when used to generate electricity.
Republicans and other critics, including some Democrats, decry the moratorium as undermining U.S. interests. impede the ability of the United States to exert influence and potentially undermine long-term energy security in Europe and Ukraine; $175 billion During the war with Russia.
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