Opinion Pieces

This story originally appeared in The Washington Examiner.
By: Rick Allen (GA-12) and August Pfluger (TX-11)

Under former President Donald Trump’s leadership, America was energy-dominant. By deregulating the sector, removing red tape, and unleashing domestic energy production, the United States became the largest energy producer in the world. Consumer costs were down, gross energy exports were up, and we were respected on the world stage as an energy powerhouse.

Fast forward three short years and the state of affairs is drastically different. In the first days of the Biden administration, President Joe Biden halted energy projects, shut down pipeline construction, and took every step imaginable to discourage the production of American energy resources. As a result, we’ve seen as much as a 60% increase in gas prices and a 20% increase in electricity prices.

The latest attack on our domestic energy capabilities came last month when Biden announced an indefinite “pause” on all pending approvals of liquefied natural gas exports while the administration “conducts a review to consider the climate impacts of natural gas.” Under the guise of climate change, this politically-driven decision will only eliminate American jobs, increase costs for American consumers, and further jeopardize U.S. energy security, all to prop up the president’s rush-to-green agenda.

Radical claims that banning American LNG exports will benefit the environment and our economy are completely unfounded and have already been debunked. The Department of Energy commissioned five studies to examine the effects of U.S. LNG exports, and the results unanimously show the benefits to the U.S. economy and domestic natural gas prices. According to the American Petroleum Institute, increasing LNG exports could add as much as $73 billion to the U.S. economy and upward of 453,000 American jobs by 2040.

The DOE also found that U.S. LNG exports are approximately 41% cleaner than Russian natural gas delivered to Europe.

Clean natural gas is a major reason why the U.S. has reduced emissions more than any other nation in the world — completely contradicting the entire premise behind Biden’s shortsighted action.

House Republicans refuse to stand idly by as Biden jeopardizes American energy security. The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security recently held a hearing shining a light on how the administration’s LNG export ban threatens America’s energy and economic security.

During the hearing, we heard from Eric Cormier, senior vice president of entrepreneurship and strategic initiatives at the Southwest Louisiana Chamber Economic Development Alliance, about the economic benefit LNG exports provide his respective community. The testimony should be eye-opening for Biden: “It brings pride because in our neck of the woods, people want to work. … With our community it comes down to one thing: we want to take care of ourselves and take care of our community and this is one way we do it,” Cormier said. We also joined more than 150 House Republicans in sending a letter to the president calling on him to end this unnecessary ban and expeditiously approve all pending applications to increase the global supply of natural gas.

Additionally, we have taken legislative action to prevent this administration and future presidents from essentially banning LNG exports. The House of Representatives recently passed H.R. 7176, the Unlocking Our Domestic LNG Potential Act, with bipartisan support, which would immediately reverse the president’s de facto ban on American LNG exports. 

Similar LNG provisions were also included in House Republicans’ comprehensive energy legislation, H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act, to reverse harmful actions by Biden that limit our domestic energy production.

Rather than waging an unprecedented war on American energy, we need a leader in the White House who understands the importance of implementing an all-of-the-above energy strategy in the pursuit of reclaiming global energy dominance. In the meantime, House Republicans are fighting to be a check and balance against this radical administration. The security of our nation depends on it. 

Rick Allen is a U.S. representative for Georgia and a member of the House Energy Action Team. August Pfluger is a U.S. representative for Texas and chairs the House Energy Action Team. Both members proudly serve on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.