Comer, Fallon, Higgins Probe DOE’s Liquified Natural Gas Export Pause

WASHINGTON—House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.), Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, Regulatory Affairs Chairman Pat Fallon (R-Texas.), and Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) are today conducting oversight of the Biden Administration’s recent action to pause pending decisions on exports of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) to non-Free Trade Agreement countries. In a letter to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, the lawmakers request documents, communications, and a staff-level briefing to understand DOE’s role in executing the LNG export pause.

“The Committee is concerned with DOE’s move to update its public interest analysis of LNG export applications without adequate justification, in an apparent attempt to appease liberal advocacy groups determined to destroy our nation’s traditional energy sector,” the lawmakers wrote.

The Oversight Committee is conducting oversight of the Biden Administration’s all-of-government war on the domestic energy industry, including its drawdowns of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) and day-one cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline. In addition to conducting oversight of possible collusion by DOE with radical environmental organizations, the Committee is also investigating the Biden Administration’s efforts to hide the influence leftist environmental groups had over U.S. foreign policy through Special Presidential Envoy for Climate (SPEC) John Kerry.

“The timing of the decision, in an election year, raises the likelihood that political motivations drove the action—as in President Biden’s misuse of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) before the 2022 midterm elections and cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline on his first day in office. Further, reports indicate the Biden Administration’s action was taken at the direction of leftist environmental groups and climate activists who seek a permanent stop to all use and exports of LNG,” the lawmakers continued. “The Biden Administration appears to be weaponizing DOE’s public interest analysis and the administrative state to prolong new LNG export project approvals at the behest of leftist environmental groups.”

Read the letter to DOE Secretary Jennifer Granholm here.