Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti joined a 23-state coalition in sending a letter to President Joe Biden and United States Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm regarding the administration’s pause on the export of liquified natural gas (LNG) in the name of climate change.
Last month, the Biden administration announced a temporary pause on pending decisions on exports of LNG to “non-FTA countries until the Department of Energy can update the underlying analyses for authorizations.”
The Administration’s liquified natural gas export “pause” is illegal and will hurt America’s national security.
This week, @AGTennessee joined 23 states in a letter to POTUS requesting an end to the LNG “pause.”
➡️https://t.co/2jlr2gkuhJ pic.twitter.com/kJcgYZej4I
— TN Attorney General (@AGTennessee) February 8, 2024
“President Biden has been clear that climate change is the existential threat of our time – and we must act with the urgency it demands to protect the future for generations to come,” a fact sheet from the White House regarding the pause reads.
However, the coalition of attorneys general argues that the export pause is “unlawful and will only serve to embolden America’s adversaries, hamper the U.S.’s ability to protect itself, and harm the economy.”
Noting how the U.S. is the world’s largest producer of LNG, the attorney generals say that such a pause on exports would force consumers to turn to other suppliers, such as the next largest producers of LNG: Russia, Iran, and China.
“At best, these countries do not share our interests or values; at worst, they actively seek to harm us and our allies,” the coalition writes.
The attorney generals also note that the Department of Energy “lacks the authority to issue blanket denials for export permits without an act of Congress” while pointing out that the decision was made without allowing anyone to weigh in on the regulatory change.
“The Administration’s LNG export pause is illegal and will hurt America’s national security,” Skrmetti said in a statement.
In addition to Tennessee’s Skrmetti, attorneys general from Kansas, Indiana, Louisiana, West Virginia, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, North Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming joined the letter.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Joe Biden” by President Joe Biden.
