The Department of Energy’s long-awaited study on LNG will be released in mid-December and kick off a 60-day public comment period, according to Brad Crabtree, Assistant Secretary of DOE’s Office of Energy for Fossil Energy and Carbon Management.
At a House Oversight recent hearing – Crabtree’s second appearance before the committee to discuss the LNG pause – the lead DOE official offered some insight into the timing of the long-awaited study and the rationale behind the pause. At times his responses raised more questions than answers – notably when he stated that the White House did not order the study, contradicting over a year of public statements.
U.S. Allies are Concerned about the LNG Pause
Throughout the hearing, Republican lawmakers consistently emphasized the important role the U.S. plays as a major global producer of LNG. Even Crabtree himself echoed this sentiment:
“…our country is playing a very important geostrategic role in supplying energy to Europe at a critical time in supporting our allies and their economic viability.”
But during his testimony, Assistant Secretary Crabtree misrepresented U.S. allies’ opinions on the LNG pause. During an exchange with Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), Crabtree refused to provide any backing to his claim that American allies have supported the pause. Prompted by further questioning, Crabtree stated:
“They [U.S. allies] also didn’t publicly oppose it either.”
Yet, research suggests otherwise. According to a study recently commissioned by the Asia Natural Gas and Energy Associating (ANGEA), continued growth in U.S. LNG production is essential to providing emerging Asia with the energy required for the region to replace coal as their dominant electricity source. The pause raises questions about the United States’ ability to achieve this growth. As ANGEA CEO Paul Everingham explained:
“They want to know if the U.S. will be a reliable long-term supplier of the LNG they seek to replace coal in power generation. If it’s not from the U.S. or Australia, then this study shows gas would need to be sourced from less cost-competitive projects around the world and the likely outcome would be higher LNG prices than what many South Asian and Southeast Asian nations can afford.”
During the hearing, Chairman Pat Fallon (R-TX) made it clear that European allies are also concerned about the global impacts of the pause, explaining:
“When you have a ban or a pause it greatly impacts our ability not only to keep high paying American jobs, but also securing the energy independence and security of our allies. I had two different European allies come into our office, begging us to have the president, lift this, whatever you want to call it, the ban or pause.”
In a previous hearing, Dr. James Watson, Secretary General of European trade association EuroGas, also strongly challenged Crabtree’s claims in his testimony:
“[T]here is no European government that has welcomed this decision. The European Commission did not welcome this decision. The European Parliament does not welcome this decision, nor does the European Council. The United Kingdom has not welcomed this decision. No European country has welcomed this decision.” (emphasis added)
Lawmakers Probe Outside Influencers in DOE’s Study
Republicans also inquired about controversial origins and influences of the DOE’s study, which have long been contested by experts and lawmakers.
Reps. August Pfluger (R-TX) and Russell Fry (R-SC) sought answers on the possible influence of controversial researcher Dr. Robert Howarth’s flawed research on the DOE’s decision to pause export permits and conduct a new LNG study. After all, Howarth himself admitted to prematurely releasing the study with the specific goal of influencing the Biden administration’s policy decisions. While Crabtree insisted that the methodology the DOE used in its forthcoming study is fundamentally different from that of Dr. Howarth’s, he stopped short of rejecting Howarth’s contested findings on LNG impacts.
When asked by Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) if the pause was put in place to appease climate activists, Crabtree said that it was not, but he failed to provide further information or explanation. His testimony failed to address any coordination between the Biden administration and dark money groups funded by the Rockefellers and Michael Bloomberg, which in turn have given substantial donations to environmental activists pushing for the pause, as documented in the Wall Street Journal.
Adding further confusion to the matter, Crabtree asserted that it was U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm – not the White House – who made the call to pause LNG export permitting and conduct a new LNG study. Crabtree claimed the Secretary made the decision of her own ambition, and was not asked by the president to do so:
“[My answer] was in reference to this study, and what I’m telling you is that Secretary Granholm is the one who made the decision to undertake the update.” (emphasis added)
This further calls into question the convoluted origins of the export pause and refutes nearly a year of public reporting and record.
Lack of Transparency at the DOE
Crabtree did shed some light on a key inquiry prompted by the Government Accountability and Oversight (GAO)’s report indicating the DOE may have already conducted a review on the economic and environmental impacts of LNG exports—and withheld it from the public. When asked by Chairman Fallon (R-TX) about his familiarity with an unpublished LNG study, Crabtree stated:
“I am not aware sir. I have not been presented with the document, so I am not aware of what you are referring to.”
However, Crabtree’s familiarity with his own department’s documents was called into question multiple times in the hearing. Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) argued that Crabtree’s lack of familiarity with key documents requested by Congress calls into question the department’s transparency and raises concerns about information concerning prior LNG studies that DOE may be withholding from the public.
Bottom line: The House Oversight and Accountability hearing on LNG addressed important concerns on the Biden administration’s LNG export permitting pause that has threatened U.S. energy security and that of our allies. However, questions still remain about what the final study will say, when it will be definitively released, who exactly initiated the export pause, and for what reasons.
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