The Biden administration will warn that plans to increase exports of U.S. natural gas risk driving domestic energy prices higher and could benefit China by delivering cheap fuel to the U.S. rival, two people familiar with the findings of a new report expected to be released Tuesday told POLITICO on Monday.
The long-awaited report comes after a nearly yearlong pause in the administration’s processing of new approvals for liquefied natural gas exports, which Republicans and many in the energy industry decried as a political move by Biden to appease climate activists. But the Energy Department, which conducted the review, will not suggest banning new exports as some environmental groups had sought, though it will warn that increasing such shipments could harm the U.S. economy, these people said.
The report will include a summary approved by the White House and appendices showing its methodology. It will look at how LNG export plants — mammoth facilities that use rows of refrigeration units to chill the gas to minus 260 degrees Fahrenheit to turn it into a liquid for shipping — affect the communities in which they’re built and consider four environmental scenarios on how they contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, one of these people said.
A DOE spokesperson did not respond to questions.
