Ed Markey: “we have now engaged in a debate over the last couple of weeks over whether we should begin to expand a massive…”

“we have now engaged in a debate over the last couple of weeks over whether we should begin to expand a massive exportation of American natural gas--our own natural gas--to put it out onto the world market as a way of helping Ukraine deal with Russia. This whole notion is constantly being invoked, like an incantation--a talisman--that somehow or other this is some kind of a magic bullet that will help solve the problems in Ukraine. In fact, it really is nothing more than another aggregation encyclopedically of discredited notions, nostrums, that have no relationship to the reality of the global energy marketplace. These are actual arguments being made, false premises that do not, in fact, have any likelihood of having any substantial impact on the totality of the Ukrainian situation. Let me give a few facts as a way of dealing with where we are right now. The United States has already approved five export terminals that could send 4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas abroad. How much natural gas is that? Let me tell my colleagues: It is more than twice what Ukraine uses in a year. The United States has already committed to doing that. More than a quarter of all of the gas Europe imports in a year would be ascribable to the amount of natural gas the United States has already approved. It would be nearly as much as every single U.S. home uses yearly. That is how much natural gas is part of the already approved export terminals in this country.…”