On the recordSeptember 12, 2013
America has a lot of clean-burning natural gas. The Eagle Ford Shale, in the district I represent, has created 400,000 jobs and roughly $2.6 billion in salaries and benefits in the 13-county area. Similar booms are happening in other parts of the country like North Dakota and Pennsylvania. Our domestic energy creates widespread economic prosperity and will continue if we don't ruin it with overregulation and red tape. Exporting some of America's huge supply of natural gas will create tens of thousands more jobs, narrow our trade deficit by billions, and help both our allies in need like Japan and the environment. When you factor in transportation costs, gas here at home will always be cheaper. The DOE recently conditionally approved additional LNG export licenses, but there's still a lot of red tape to wade through before these properties open. I worry these contingent licenses artificially overstate the potential for future LNG exports, and the lengths of time these approvals take risks our competitive and economic advantage over Middle Eastern countries. I, along with three of my colleagues, Jim Costa, Joe Barton, and Filemon Vela, created the LNG Export Caucus to help the development and timely export of LNG and encourage a rational regulatory environment that ensures the production and export of LNG, creating jobs, helping the economy, and cleaning the environment. ____________________
