WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden released a long-awaited study on the economic and environmental impacts of liquefied natural gas exports on Tuesday, saying the results underscored the need for a cautious approach to new permits.
Biden in January had paused the Department of Energy’s approvals of U.S. LNG exports to big consumers in Asia and Europe in order for his administration to conduct the review, triggering complaints from the oil and gas industry.
The study showed rising LNG exports risk dramatically raising greenhouse gas emissions and could also trigger price hikes for U.S. energy consumers, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a letter summarizing the study’s findings.
She told reporters on a press call ahead of the study’s release that a business-as-usual approach to LNG export permitting was neither sustainable nor advisable.
Incoming President Donald Trump, a climate skeptic and big supporter of fossil fuel development, has promised to immediately end the moratorium on new LNG export permits when he returns to the White House in January.
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Writing by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Chris Reese)
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