Fossil Fuel Diplomacy: All Risk, No Reward For American Families
Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Senate’s Energy & Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing today on the Russian Federation’s war in Ukraine, and the impacts on global energy security. In advance of the hearing, Tyson Slocum, energy program director at Public Citizen, issued the following statement:
“A truly balanced view of Americans’ energy security would require the Biden Administration to evaluate the environmental justice and climate change impacts of U.S. LNG exports. The EU’s refusal to sign long-term commitments for U.S. gas demonstrates that American LNG exports play the short-term role of replacing Russian gas. The Biden Administration’s LNG hypocrisy is exemplified by the contrast with Puerto Rico, where the U.S. Department of Energy opposed expansion of LNG import terminals for the island as they would quickly become ‘stranded assets’ with the deployment of solar and wind.
“The Biden Administration has consistently acted as a partner of the U.S. LNG industry rather than its regulator. The administration’s failure exacerbates energy insecurity for tens of millions of Americans, pushing up home heating bills for consumers and increasing the price of electricity derived from gas-fired power plants. Asking overburdened communities of color in the U.S. Gulf to shoulder continued risk from LNG export infrastructure buildout in the name of purported European energy security is wrong.
“For 85 years, federal law has required most natural gas exports to be ‘consistent with the public interest.’ The Biden Administration’s continued refusal to obey the law has resulted in Americans paying higher energy costs, and Gulf Coast communities of color shouldering heightened risks. The U.S. Department of Energy must immediately revamp its procedures for reviewing LNG exports to ensure that American families―not fossil fuel interests―are prioritized.”
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