Senators point to dangerous environmental and public health impacts, consumer costs from extending existing export authorizations through 2050

Washington (February 21, 2020) – Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) today expressed their strong opposition to the Department of Energy’s (DOE) proposal to extend existing authorizations to export American natural gas abroad through the end of 2050. In a letter sent to DOE, the Senators outline how consumers do not benefit from increased liquid natural gas (LNG) production, which gets sent overseas to this highest bidder, making it harder for those countries to move away from fossil fuels and toward clean, renewable sources of energy. The Energy Information Administration has already concluded that increased LNG exports result in increased domestic consumer expenditures, higher natural gas prices, and increased carbon emissions. Senators Markey and Merkley also point out that the Department of Energy has never denied a natural gas export permit application and should not simply serve as a rubber stand for approving massive quantities of LNG to be exported out of the United States.

“We should be protecting Americans and the climate, not turning a blind eye to the effects of essentially unlimited exports,” write the Senators in their letter to Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette. “A mass extension of natural gas export authorizations for the next 30 years is unnecessary, unwarranted, and would abdicate the Department’s role in protecting American consumers.” 

A copy of the letter can be found HERE.

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