DENVER – The Western States and Tribal Nations (WSTN) Energy Initiative, a trans-national organization led by state and sovereign tribal governments to drive rural and tribal economic development and lower global emissions, issued the following statement today in response to reported findings of a forthcoming Department of Energy (DOE) analysis of LNG exports, as related in news reports.
“The outcome of this report appears to have been predetermined, as telegraphed in news articles quoting groups that lobbied for the halt as an election-year gambit. That seemingly political maneuver that created destructive impediments to U.S. LNG exports – which deliver measurable, scalable and immediate global environmental improvement,” WSTN President Andrew Browning said. “WSTN’s own analysis and others credibly show that LNG exports will not increase domestic prices, as argued by certain industrial interests. It’s unfortunate that this report appears to have been designed to undermine the favorable conclusions of earlier DOE analyses that showed LNG exports would reduce global emissions.”
A WSTN-commissioned emissions study found that Rockies gas, if exported to Japan, China, Taiwan, South Korea and India for use as power generation fuel, would cut emissions by 42%-55%. WSTN’s study built on those first carried out by the Obama Administration’s DOE.
“The American natural gas industry works tirelessly to produce what it is certifiably amongst the cleanest molecules of energy delivered. We want to share this clean, abundant resource with our friends across the globe, without which net zero by 2050 will be impossible,” WSTN Chairman Jason Sandel said. “I find it abhorrent that there are some who would risk environmental successes and steal food off the table of hard-working middle-class families in their endeavor to kill an industry.”
“The seemingly politicized decision-making around the halt further disadvantaged tribes already contending with permitting challenges and a dual layer of federal bureaucracies to contend with for energy production. Creating a record that supports a pre-determined conclusion about exports adds another impediment to Western states and tribal nations’ abilities to chart a sovereign path forward and develop natural resources responsibly and for the benefit of their citizens,” Browning said.
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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.