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Liquefied natural gas exports “are in the public interest” and a study by the previous administration finding the opposite is flawed, the NAM told the Department of Energy this week.  
 
What’s going on: A DOE study released in December claims that increasing the number of LNG export permits would have negative effects on the U.S.—but this conclusion is based on “flawed and missing data,” NAM Vice President of Domestic Policy Chris Phalen said.    

• For example, the study “makes the bald assertion that there is insufficient job creation in the local communities where the LNG export industry operates,” then admits the department “was not able to identify published data regarding these assertions.”
• In truth, “[t]he boom in U.S. natural gas has created tens of thousands of jobs, made the U.S. and its allies more energy secure and less reliant on adversarial nations like Russia, opened up a vital new source to address global energy poverty and helped reduce U.S. emissions by roughly 20% since 2005,” the NAM told the DOE. And it could support more than 900,000 jobs and add $216 billion to U.S. gross domestic product by 2044, according to an NAM–EY study. 

Cherry-picked data: The study ignores the significant economic contribution of the LNG export industry. In 2023 alone, the sector’s total fiscal support of federal, state and local governments was $11 billion, according to the NAM study. That number has the potential to grow to $47.7 billion in 2044. 

• It also fails to take into account widespread support for LNG exports.   

The NAM’s take: The DOE study “is clearly a politically motivated document designed for an audience who believes no form of carbon-based energy is acceptable,” NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons said following the study’s release. 
 
What should be done: The NAM urges the new DOE, led by Energy Secretary Chris Wright, to “withdraw the flawed and missing data contained in the [report’s] studies and finalize the final report.”