Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 7176--the ``Unlocking our Domestic LNG Potential Act.'' This bill, H.R. 7176, would substantially weaken the federal review and authorization process for natural gas exports. Specifically, it removes the requirement under section 3(a) of the Natural Gas Act (NGA) that the Department of Energy first determine liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports be in the public interest before approving export applications to non-free trade agreement countries. These determinations currently involve a review of the economic impacts, including potential changes to domestic natural gas and electricity prices on consumers and manufacturers. They also consider the environmental impacts of the exports. Finally, they consider potential effects on the security of the U.S. natural gas supply. Instead of maintaining this time-tested and reliable process, this bill assumes that all LNG exports are automatically in the public interest. This is reckless and irresponsible. By removing a crucial safeguard for American consumers, this bill allows our adversaries, like China, to purchase even more of our energy to use against us. Multiple analyses have found that increased LNG exports directly lead to higher natural gas prices here at home. According to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, LNG exports cost American consumers over $100 billion over a 16-month period.…”