- LNG faces ‘Battle for Truth’ amid questionable arguments, real-world emissions reductions progress
- Claims of LNG exports raising domestic LNG prices are false on their face
DENVER – The Western States and Tribal Nations (WSTN) Natural Gas Initiative, a trans-national organization led by state and sovereign tribal governments to drive rural and tribal economic development and lower global emissions, today urged the Biden Administration to reverse its pause of LNG export permit approvals to non-Free Trade Agreement nations.
“We are in a battle for the truth right now when it comes to the actual impact of U.S. LNG exports on the global environment. Political decisions like this risk damaging real-world progress toward reducing emissions in a substantive way,” WSTN President Andrew Browning said. “Our member companies right now are working with the Department of Energy to produce some of the world’s lowest methane-intensity LNG.”
“This pause risks four pending export approvals to India, which could cut its emissions footprint by 49.8% if it used Rockies natural gas to replace its current fuel choices. As Japan’s Vice Minister for International Affairs at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry Hirai Hirohide told a WSTN forum last year, Russia will be ‘pleased’ to step in if the U.S. does not provide LNG to its allies, especially in Asia.”
“Yet here we have a decision with vast geopolitical, economic and national security impacts being made with the input of a social media influencer and an activist who has readily admitted his purpose is to demonize the oil and gas industry,” Browning said. “LNG export opponents understand mass communications and run influencing campaigns well. What they do not understand, nor care to understand, are supply chain fundamentals, consumer pricing, energy economics and the obligation stand true to our word and support our allies and partners with low-carbon energy to run their economies.”
“Case in point: the claim that LNG exports will raise domestic gas prices is false on its face. After a brief surge when Russia invaded Ukraine, domestic prices last year actually fell by a third from the 2021 pre-war average. The current benchmark is running below the Energy Information Administration’s 10-year average Henry Hub price. WSTN’s inflation-adjusted analysis of the DOE’s own forecast in a high-demand, low-supply scenario shows that prices will remain stable and within the 10-year average.”
“WSTN is a bipartisan, trans-national organization and we urge the Biden Administration to prioritize the best efforts of its own agencies to lower global emissions, in a fact-based manner consistent with the U.S. tradition of unknotting our biggest challenges through practicality, innovation and ambitious bipartisanship.”
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About Western States and Tribal Nations
Western States and Tribal Nations is a unique, trans-national initiative led by state, county and sovereign tribal nation governments, focused on creating rural economic development, advancing tribal self-determination and reducing global emissions by exporting western North American natural gas to international markets that need lower-emitting fuels.
Contact:
Bryson Hull
P: 202-657-2855