Some of the top officials in the Bush and Trump administrations are urging Congress to reverse the pause that President Joe Biden has implemented on the exports of liquefied natural gas, or LNG.
The 35 officials served in the State Department, the Department of Energy and the White House under those two Republican administrations.
On Monday, they sent a joint letter to the ranking members and chairs of some of the top Senate and House committees, expressing their “profound concern” about the moratorium Biden has put into place on LNG exports.
Their letter outlines how that plan works directly against U.S. economic, energy and national security interests. They also argued that it was “imperative” to reverse the policy, urging the leaders of these congressional committees to immediately act.
As the letter reads:
“This decision, we believe, stands in stark contrast to the clear interests of our nation’s economic prosperity, energy security and the strategic advantage American LNG provides us and our allies across the world who benefit from supply. American energy has become a stabilizing force in global markets, reinforcing our alliances and promoting global stability.
“The moratorium on LNG export permits threatens to undo these gains.”
They wrote that the U.S. has become a “stabilizing force” for global energy markets, and it’s a position that they all believe the country should seek to maintain. In doing so, the U.S. has brought stability to a large part of the world.
Some of the signatories on the letter are Victoria Coates, a deputy national security adviser for the White House; Bernard McNamee, a commissioner of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, an administration on the National Nuclear Security Administration; and former Energy Secretaries Dan Brouillette, Rick Perry and Spencer Abraham.
What LNG exports do is ensure that energy supplies for American allies remain stable, the letter says. They also strengthen the American economy by creating thousands of jobs that are well-paying, stimulating local economies and also generating “significant tax revenue.”
If the Biden administration doesn’t reverse its pause on these LNG exports soon, then the economic benefits that come from them would likely move to other countries around the world.
As the letter reads:
“The cessation of exports risks derailing this progress, impacting workers and communities across the country that have come to rely on the energy sector.”
Research has indicated that LNG exports could create an additional $73 billion in value to the American economy by 2040. In the same timeframe, they could create 453,000 jobs in the country and increase the purchasing power the U.S. has by $30 billion.
These LNG exports also allow companies in the energy sector to invest more money into domestic infrastructure that ultimately supports energy supplies here.
By limiting the LNG exports, the former officials say that it “sends the wrong message to our allies, partners and the energy markets.”
They’re also crucial now due to Russia’s ongoing war with Ukraine, as LNG exports could help U.S. allies wean off relying on Russian gas.