The US Energy Information Administration reports that the United States set a new record for exports of methane gas in the first half of 2023. The Biden administration has encouraged this distressing trend, and there are an array of proposals to greatly expand LNG exports in the years to come. 

In response, Food & Water Watch Policy Director Jim Walsh released the following statement: 

“Record exports of fossil fuels are a direct result of Biden administration policies that are expanding fracking, pipelines and LNG export facilities, all of which threaten to lock the world into more climate warming emissions from fossil fuels. These policies are bad news for our climate and public health, but will also continue to push up energy prices for U.S. consumers, and will slow the transition to more affordable, clean renewable energy options.

“The US is hitting this record with just under 14 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) of LNG export capacity. That number could expand greatly in the coming years; the United States is on the road to almost doubling this – and that total does not even include the nearly 19 bcfd of export capacity already approved, but not yet under construction.

“President Biden has a chance to reverse this dangerous trend. He can match his climate rhetoric with real climate action by determining that the proposed Calcasieu Pass 2 (CP2) project in Louisiana,  which would be the country’s largest export facility for fossil gas, is not in the public interest. It is time for the White House to put the public interest and our climate future ahead of fossil fuel industry profits.”