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On December 4, the House Oversight and Accountability Committee will question senior Biden administration officials about the pause in approvals of new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities. The hearing, led by subcommittee Chairman Pat Fallon, seeks transparency over the decision, which critics say harmed energy production and security.

• Energy Department official Brad Crabtree and Biden climate adviser John Podesta are expected to testify about the reasons behind the freeze.
• Lawmakers are investigating allegations that the Energy Department buried a draft 2023 study challenging the rationale for the pause.
• The Biden administration defends the policy, citing the need to assess environmental, economic and security impacts, although watchdog groups say prior review could have been waived.
• The Trump administration has announced plans to reverse the export freeze and increase LNG capacity in 2025.

EXCLUSIVE: GOP Reps to Grill Top Biden Officials on Pausing Natural Gas Exports

The House Oversight and Accountability Committee will summon top Biden administration energy officials for a Dec. 4 hearing on the administration’s decision to withhold approvals for certain new energy export facilities. liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs Chairman Pat Fallon, a Republican from Texas, will moderate the hearing, at which senior Department of Energy (DOE) official Brad Crabtree and Biden’s top climate adviser. John Podesta were invited. The hearing will be a continuation of oversight of one of the Biden administration’s most aggressive projects. political measures against conventional energy, and lawmakers intend to investigate allegations that the DOE effectively buried a proposed 2023 study that would have undermined the rationale for the pause before officially announcing the freeze in January 2024.

Federal Court Lifts Biden’s Natural Gas Export Halt, But Federal Government May Not Lift a Finger Anytime Soon

– Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) July 5, 2024

“The Biden-Harris Administration’s decision to suspend new LNG exports harms our energy production and security. The House Oversight and Accountability Committee has repeatedly called on the Biden-Harris administration’s Department of Energy to be fully transparent about its decision to ban new LNG exports. , Fallon said in a statement shared with the Daily Caller News Foundation. “However, Biden-Harris administration officials may have obstructed the investigation and withheld critical information from Congress and the American people. This hearing is an opportunity to get additional answers for the American people and to hear from those behind this policy about why LNG exports were effectively banned, causing damage to the industry and labor.

The Biden-Harris administration said it needed to conduct a review of the potential environmental, economic and security impacts of LNG exports to ensure approval of new capacity was still in the pipeline. public interest when she officially announced the decision. break. However, Government Accountability and Oversight (GAO), a government watchdog group, said that the administration may have actually conducted – or begun to conduct – such a review in 2023 before effectively burying it because it might have produced politically inconvenient conclusions.

The GAO’s accusations, first reported by the DCNF in early October, prompted the Oversight and Accountability Committee and other lawmakers to request answers and transparency on the issue from the Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm. The DOE is rumor is preparing to release its analysis on the climate impacts of LNG this week as Americans enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday.

It’s unclear what impact the study and its findings might have on the regulatory process for LNG exports or on developers’ appetite for legal risk, although the new Trump administration is prepared to do so. would have preparing to free up exports upon returning to power in January 2025.

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