Democrats Urge Energy Dept. to Revamp LNG Export Review Process
Senate and House Democrats sent a letter to the Energy Department this week urging the agency to rethink its approval process for liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports. More than 60 lawmakers said they are concerned the agency’s approach doesn’t “fully or accurately consider how LNG exports negatively impact the climate, environmental justice communities, or increase domestic energy prices” and asked DOE to begin a rulemaking to update its permit review process.
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Instead of a case-by-case review process, which “ignores the aggregate impact that the explosive growth in U.S. LNG exports is having on climate, communities, and our economy,” the Energy Department should develop a “generally-applicable approach, informed by updated climate and economic analyses,” when considering LNG export permits for countries where the U.S. doesn’t have a free trade agreement. The letter said this approach should be transparent and outlined in guidance or a rulemaking open to public comment, and the agency should make sure that it “consistently applies this approach in its review of all LNG export applications.”
The lawmakers said special attention should be paid to how the agency measures the environmental impact of potential LNG exports. The agency’s current methods of assessing climate impacts is “outdated and insufficient,” noting the Energy Department operates under the assumption that “all LNG exports yield net climate benefits.” The letter pointed to a Sierra Club analysis saying lifecycle emissions of all existing and proposed LNG export terminals would be equal to “681 coal plants or 548 million gasoline-powered cars annually.”
“It is critical that DOE assess the climate, environmental justice, and consumer impacts when determining whether exports are in the public interest, especially as the agency considers its current pipeline of 16 LNG export projects under review,” the letter said. They said this should start with the agency’s pending decision on an export permit for the Calcasieu Pass 2, an LNG export project in Louisiana. “It is long past time for DOE to update and clarify how it determines whether LNG export projects are in the public interest, starting with the CP2 project,” the lawmakers said.
An Energy Department spokesperson didn’t comment.