{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://mcclellan.house.gov/media/press-releases/mcclellan-new-liquified-fossil-gas-licenses-not-public-interest", "McClellan: New Liquified Fossil Gas Licenses Not In Public Interest", "2023-11-14", "2023", "2023-11", "Democrat", "House", "VA", "Jennifer L. McClellan", "M001227", "mcclellan.house.gov", "mcclellan", "https://mcclellan.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2013 Today, Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan and U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), along with Representatives Nanette Barrag\u00e1n (D-CA-44) and Jared Huffman (D-CA-02), sent a bicameral letter along with over 60 of their colleagues to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) urging the agency to update how it determines if new licenses for liquified natural gas (LNG) exports to non-free, U.S. trade countries are in the public interest. The letter highlights concerns that DOE\u2019s current approach to making these determinations does not fully or accurately consider how these exports impact the climate, environmental justice, or domestic energy prices.\n\nThe lawmaker\u2019s letter comes just as Data For Progress and Fossil Free Media released a new polling report finding voters are in strong support of limiting natural gas exports \u201cby a 2-to-1 margin and want to see new export facilities paused until the proper reviews are completed.\u201d\n\nThe letter highlights that DOE has never rejected an LNG export application on the basis of negative impacts to the American people and urges meaningful consideration of the costs to the climate and consumers when reviewing new export licenses.\n\n\u201cU.S. LNG exports have doubled over the past four years, and projects currently under development are set to almost double exports again. DOE\u2019s case-by-case approach to approvals ignores the aggregate impact that the explosive growth in U.S. LNG exports is having on climate, communities, and our economy,\u201d the lawmakers write.\n\nThe lawmakers\u2019 letter comes as DOE is approving LNG exports\u2014and, as the lawmakers note, \u201cscientific reports, including a recent peer reviewed study from Brown University and RMI, have found that natural gas can be as bad for the climate as coal, when only small methane leaks are factored in.\u201d\n\nThe lawmakers strongly encourage DOE to develop an approach that is informed by the latest climate and economic analysis, and which is transparent and open for public comment. \u201cBy exacerbating climate change, LNG exports also pose a threat to environmental justice at home and abroad, because the impacts of climate change fall most heavily on low-income communities and communities of color,\u201d wrote the lawmakers.\n\n\u201cFinally, LNG exports drive up household energy burdens across the country, a key issue for all of our constituents. The EIA found that \u2018higher LNG exports create a tighter domestic natural gas market \u2026 increasing domestic natural gas prices\u2019 and this link was on clear display when an explosion at Freeport LNG sent domestic gas prices plummeting and its restart caused them to rise sharply again,\u201d they continued.\n\nWith the Department\u2019s anticipated decision on the CP2 export application, a proposal to create one of the largest LNG terminals ever, the stakes could not be higher.\n\n\u201cNo public interest determination will be viewed as credible unless the perspectives of the public are heard, understood, and reflected in DOE\u2019s decision on CP2 and across the board,\u201d the letter concludes.\n\nIn addition to Representatives McClellan, Barrag\u00e1n, and Huffman, the letter is signed by Representatives Alma Adams (D-NC-12), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR-03), Julia Brownley (D-CA-26), Greg Casar (D-TX-35), Sean Casten (D-IL-06), Yvette Clarke (D-NY-09), Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO-05), Steve Cohen (D-TN-09), Jasmine Crockett (D-TX-30), Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA-10), Adriano Espaillat (D-NY-13), Daniel Goldman (D-NY-10), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA-07), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA-37), Ann Kuster (D-NH-02), Barbara Lee (D-CA-12), Mike Levin (D-CA-49), Seth Magaziner (D-RI-02), James McGovern (D-MA-02), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY-12), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY-14), Chellie Pingree (D-ME-01), Katie Porter (D-CA-47), Jamie Raskin (D-MD-08), Janice Schakowsky (D-IL-09), Robert Scott (D-VA-03), Mark Takano (D-CA-39), Shri Thanedar (D-MI-13), Dina Titus (D-NV-01), Paul Tonko (D-NY-20), Ritchie Torres (D-NY-15), Juan Vargas (D-CA-52), Nydia Vel\u00e1zquez (D-NY-07), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ-12), Ra\u00fal Grijalva (D-AZ-07), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC-AT LARGE), Antonio Cardenas (D-CA-29), Ro Khanna (D-CA-17), Delia Ramirez (D-IL-03), Sara Jacobs (D-CA-51), Dwight Evans (D-PA-03), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR-01), Frederica Wilson (D-FL-24), Kathy Castor (D-FL-14), Jes\u00fas Garcia (D-IL-04), Andrea Salinas (D-OR-06), Judy Chu (D-CA-28), Betty McCollum (D-MN-04), Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05), Summer Lee (D-PA-12), and Val Hoyle (D-OR-04).\n\nIn addition to Senator Merkley, this letter is also cosigned by Senators Jack Reed (D-RI), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Tina Smith (D-MN), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Brian Schatz (D-HI).", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T01:01:09Z"]], "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://mcclellan.house.gov/media/press-releases/mcclellan-new-liquified-fossil-gas-licenses-not-public-interest"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.0734709687530994, "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"}