{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://clarke.house.gov/representatives-clarke-espaillat-and-senator-markey-introduce-legislation-to-lower-household-energy-bills-by-stopping-exports-of-natural-gas-abroad/", "REPRESENTATIVES CLARKE, ESPAILLAT, AND SENATOR MARKEY INTRODUCE LEGISLATION TO LOWER HOUSEHOLD ENERGY BILLS BY STOPPING EXPORTS OF NATURAL GAS ABROAD", "2025-12-19", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "House", "NY", "Yvette D. Clarke", "C001067", "clarke.house.gov", "clarke", "https://clarke.house.gov/category/press-release/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nDecember 19, 2025\n\nMEDIA CONTACT:\n\ne: jessica.myers@mail.house.gov\n\nc: 202.913.0126\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Representatives Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09) and Adriano Espaillat (NY-13) and Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) introduced the Lowering American Energy Costs Act. The bill directs the President to prohibit most U.S. exports of natural gas due to their contribution to rising household energy costs\u2014a move that will protect consumers from utility price hikes and reduce greenhouse gases. This would not be the first time Congress has prohibited fossil fuel exports: in 1975, Congress passed a ban on crude oil and natural gas exports\u2014a ban that was repealed in 2015.\n\n\u201cWhen each passing day of inaction increases the severity of the climate crisis and decreases our ability to fight back against it, solutions like the Lowering American Energy Costs Act grow all the more critical. Banning the export of our energy resources is a necessary step towards, at long last, putting American families, futures, and communities first, and I am proud to co-lead this legislative answer to an already existential problem. It\u2019s past time we prioritize the American people over someone else\u2019s profits,\u201d said Representative Yvette D. Clarke.\n\n\u201cThe Lowering American Energy Costs Act would have an immediate impact on Americans\u2019 energy bills, which have skyrocketed in the past year, with many households seeing double digit increases in the rates they pay,\u201d said Representative Adriano Espaillat. \u201cWhile this cost explosion is unprecedented, the solutions are clear. We must ramp up renewable energy generation and ensure that American households are our primary and priority consumers, not AI companies or foreign purchasers. I am proud to join Senator Markey, Representative Clarke, and our colleagues to offer this legislation, which would reestablish the export ban on fossil fuels that was lifted in 2015 at the behest of billionaire oil barons, and lighten the cost burden that energy bills are having on Americans.\u201d\n\n\u201cFossil fuel billionaires aren\u2019t just harming our health by polluting our air, land, and water\u2014they\u2019re busting our budgets every month through massive exports of fossil fuels that drive higher prices on the international market and create sky-high prices for us at home,\u201d said Senator Markey. \u201cThe Lowering American Energy Costs Act would put a stop to natural gas exports that are draining Americans\u2019 pockets, polluting our planet, and destroying our chance at a livable future.\u201d\n\nSeveral stakeholders joined the lawmakers in endorsing the Lowering American Energy Costs Act.\n\n\u201cThis bill is exactly what American families need to help stop soaring energy bills, driven by unchecked LNG exports. By leading this important legislation, Senator Markey and Representative Espaillat are standing up for consumers who are being exploited by profiteering LNG exporters, while also protecting communities from dangerous and unnecessary fossil fuel infrastructure,\u201d said Jim Walsh, Policy Director of Food & Water Watch.\n\n\u201cAt a time when household energy costs are skyrocketing for millions of Americans, stopping the expansion of costly, polluting gas export infrastructure is paramount. We are grateful that Senator Markey\u2019s Lowering American Energy Costs Act prohibits the export of U.S. methane gas in order to lower costs and prevent already overburdened communities from more pollution and harm caused by the unnecessary fossil fuel buildout,\u201d said Claire Dorner, Associate Director, Legislative and Administrative Advocacy, Beyond Dirty Fuels.\n\n\u201cThis bold, commonsense bill will help protect the health and pocketbooks of American families, who\u2019re being ravaged by filthy fossil fuels,\u201d said Camden Weber, climate and energy policy specialist at the Center for Biological Diversity. \u201cBy banning U.S. methane gas exports, this bill prioritizes public health, tackles the emissions driving the climate crisis, and shields Americans from soaring energy costs. Sen. Markey is showing true leadership by putting the American people above corporate profits while the Trump administration and complicit Republicans side with fossil fuel interests.\u201d\n\nThis legislation is endorsed by Food & Water Watch, Beyond Dirty Fuels, Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club, Public Citizen, Earthworks, WE ACT for Environmental Justice, 198 Methods, 350Hawaii, 350NYC, Better Brazoria, the Carrizo/Comecrudo Nation of Texas, Center for Oil and Gas Organizing, Climate Conversation Brazoria County, Climate Hawks Vote, Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Earth Ethics, Elders Coalition for Climate Action, For a Better Bayou, Freeport Haven Project, GreenLatinos, Greenpeace USA, Hip Hop Caucus, Institute for Policy Studies Climate Policy Program, League of Conservation Voters, Oil and Gas Action Network, Oil Change International, Oil Field Witness, Port Arthur Community Action Network, Putnam Progressives, Stand.Earth, The People\u2019s Justice Council, Third Act Ohio, Turtle Island Restoration Network, Vessel Project of Louisiana, Waterkeeper Alliance, Bronx Council for Environmental Quality, and New York Restoration Project.\n\nThe United States is the largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the world\u2014the country\u2019s eight operating LNG export terminals consume more natural gas than 73 million American households combined. Unconstrained exports of natural gas have a direct impact on utility bills for American households, as confirmed repeatedly by Department of Energy studies conducted in 2012, 2018, and 2024 and by Energy Information Administration analysis released last month from the Energy Information Administration. Since Trump took office, United States households paid $12 billion more for natural gas than they did last year, largely because of the continuing rise in LNG exports\u2014an average of about $124 more per household.\n\nThe full bill text is available HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://clarke.house.gov/representatives-clarke-espaillat-and-senator-markey-introduce-legislation-to-lower-household-energy-bills-by-stopping-exports-of-natural-gas-abroad/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.374860992655158, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}