The Biden administration on Tuesday released a draft report warning of potentially negative impacts for Americans if the president’s moratorium on liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports is lifted.
The report, which concludes that growth in LNG exports could cause U.S. energy prices to rise by up to 30% in the coming years and contribute to carbon emissions, was quickly met with pushback from officials. from the energy industry who dismissed it as a “politically motivated” appeal. to environmentalists. Meanwhile, an environmental group criticized the same report as “weak and half-hearted.”
The study comes weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office and follows President Biden’s decision in January to suspend all new U.S. LNG exports to countries that are not part of the Free Trade Agreement, citing the need to better consider the climate and economic impacts of such “considerable growth” in LNG sales to buyers in Asia and Europe. President-elect Trump promised during the election campaign to quickly reverse Biden’s moratorium once he takes office .
He analysis of the draft reportwhich is now open for a 60-day comment period, found that LNG growth in the US could cause prices for US consumers to rise by up to 30% in the near term. Additionally, while stopping short of recommending an outright ban on LNG exports (in recognition of short-term demand from other countries), it also focused largely on the negative impacts for U.S. consumers, who, according to U.S. Department of Energy, could see energy prices increase by about $100 by 2050 as a result of tighter demand.
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An LNG tanker truck is seen in Port Canaveral, Florida. (Malcom Denmark/Florida Today)
The analysis noted that increasing US LNG exports beyond currently authorized levels could cause up to 1.5 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions to the atmosphere by 2050, or about 25% of annual gas emissions. of the country’s greenhouse effect.
However, industry groups have rejected this claim. A senior industry official told Fox News Digital that that data sets out models for a scenario that assumes growth in LNG exports does not replace any other form of energy consumption, such as coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel. In fact, this person noted, LNG is expected to help offset coal consumption in the EU and elsewhere by 50% to 60%, according to International Energy Agency estimates.
While the analysis found that increasing exports would result in a roughly 0.2% increase in U.S. GDP, Energy Department officials told reporters Tuesday that the increase in GDP “does not necessarily correlates with a positive effect on public and consumer well-being in general.”
Accompanied by tugboats, the LNG tanker “Hellas Diana” transports a cargo of LNG to the energy terminal “Deutsche Ostsee” on August 28, 2024. (Stefan Sauer/dpa/Sipa USA)
In a statement released alongside the report, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm noted that increasing LNG exports would “generate wealth for export facility owners and create jobs throughout the natural gas supply chain.” , but suggested that the domestic price of natural gas would increase. .
The study comes as U.S. sales of refrigerated natural gas have boomed. The United States rose to become the world’s number one LNG exporter in 2023, and current capacity is already scheduled to double by the end of the decade thanks to current projects, according to estimates from the Energy Information Administration.
It also comes as Russia’s war in Ukraine has sparked new demand from America’s allies in Europe, which have rushed to buy LNG to make up for the loss of Russian gas, and from Japan, an import-dependent nation that It receives up to 90% of its energy from external suppliers.
The report, released just weeks before Trump takes office on Jan. 20, sparked a backlash from natural gas advocates.
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Q-LNG4000, Port Canaveral’s liquefied natural gas tanker, was fueling the Carnival Mardis Gras in port. (Malcom Denmark/Florida Today)
“Today’s report from Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm is clearly a politically motivated document designed for an audience that believes that no form of carbon-based energy is acceptable,” the CEO and president of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), Jay Timmons. “LNG exports play a crucial role in reducing emissions by providing cleaner energy alternatives to countries that rely on higher emissions sources.”
For its part, NAM conducted a study on the ban that found nearly 1 million jobs would be threatened by the LNG pause over the next two decades if the restriction remains in place, Fox News Digital previously reported.
American Gas Association CEO and President Karen Harbert described the report as a “clear and inexplicable attempt to justify their grave policy mistake.”
“America’s allies are suffering from the weaponization of natural gas and energy deprivation, and any limitations on the supply of life-critical energy are absolutely wrong,” Harbert said in a statement, adding: “The pause of the Biden administration on US LNG exports was a mistake that “resulted in uncertainty for the market, for investors, and for US allies around the world.”
However, the report is not exempt from criticism from the left.
The environmental group Food & Water Watch also criticized the Biden administration for the “weak” report warning about LNG exports.
“This study reflects the Biden administration’s entire four-year approach to promoting a clean energy future: weak and half-hearted,” Jim Walsh, policy director at Food & Water Watch, said in a statement. “We cannot continue to be victims of the profit-driven agenda of fossil fuel corporations. President Biden must heed the warnings of his own administration by banning further LNG exports and rejecting pending LNG permits before leaving office.”
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President-elect Trump, for his part, has also repeatedly pledged to undo the LNG pause upon taking office and “unleash” U.S. energy exports, blaming the outgoing Biden administration for high costs and supply problems. .
In October, he promised at a campaign rally that American residents would see their energy prices cut “in half” within a year of his inauguration.
More recently, he promised to “go firmly on the issue” and proceed to immediately lift Biden’s LNG Pause to allow new LNG exports after he takes office, sources familiar with the transition plans told Reuters.
