LNG Exports: A Climate Bomb and A Price Hike, Warns Department of Energy Report

Today, the Biden Administration’s Department of Energy (DOE) released its anticipated analysis regarding the impacts of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports, confirming significant concerns about the climate, economic, national security, and public health risks associated with LNG. These findings offer a strong foundation for future Department of Energy decisions on LNG export authorizations, and demonstrate that a history of rubber stamping these projects may not serve the public interest.

In response to the analysis, Greenpeace USA Deputy Climate Program Director, John Noël, said: “There is no longer any debate. LNG exports drive up prices, devastate communities, and increase climate pollution. It is time for the Biden administration to act decisively and deny all the pending LNG export applications. The Department of Energy’s final report serves as a wake-up call to international buyers – US LNG is not clean energy.

“Despite claims from the incoming Trump administration that it wants to lower prices, the truth is they are putting billionaire fossil fuel donors ahead of everyday Americans. The record is crystal clear: increasing LNG exports will drive up costs for domestic businesses and consumers. Full stop. Any further investment in LNG will only exacerbate the cost of living crisis, while enriching gas industry CEOs who don’t have to experience the fallout of living near an export terminal.”

A recent analysis from Greenpeace USA and the Sierra Club found that permitted levels of air pollution from currently operating LNG export terminals is estimated to cause 60 premature deaths and $957 million in total health costs per year. If all the planned terminals and expansion projects are built, these numbers would increase to 149 premature deaths and $2.33 billion in health costs per year. By 2050, cumulative deaths from the full LNG build out could total 4,470.

The LNG buildout along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast is already having significant climate and public health impacts – and threatening coastal communities in the process. Both currently operating and under construction LNG export capacity far exceeds global demand forecasts, but the oil and gas industry is pressing forward on a foolhardy gamble that flooding the market will offer them a last gasp of profits.

In January, the Biden administration made the monumental decision to pause and review the effects of new LNG export applications, based on both environmental and economic concerns. With the release of this long-awaited report, the DOE will now open a comment period for 60 days to allow for public input.