Unlocking Our Domestic Lng Potential Act of 2024
Floor Speech
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Mr. CASTEN. Mr. Speaker, there is a really simple question before us today: Is it in the U.S. national interest to look out for U.S. energy consumers or for U.S. energy producers?
Let's look at the facts. According to the most recent DOE data over the last decade, U.S. gas consumption is up by about 26 percent; U.S. gas production is up by about 50 percent; and U.S. gas exports are up 326 percent.
Ten years ago, just 6 percent of all gas produced in the U.S. was for export. Today, more than 20 percent is for export. That is not because the industry is succeeding. They can't compete against cheaper renewable energy, so they are trying to export overseas, and y'all are helping them out.
Those export volumes are going to triple again just based on the stuff that is already permitted in the pipeline--nothing to do with what is going on today.
I remind my Republican colleagues, because sometimes we need to remind on this, even in this body where we write the laws, you cannot change the laws of supply and demand. When U.S. natural gas is exported overseas, it reduces domestic supply and increases the price. We know this from recent experience because when the Freeport LNG terminal had that explosion, according to the Department of Energy, domestic prices for natural gas fell by nearly a third. Exporters were very sad that they lost money. Do you know who had more money in their pocket? American consumers. Gas was cheaper.
Y'all hate inflation, right? That was wonderful. Thank you for doing that. Who are you rooting for, though?
Mr. Speaker, there was a reason why the Natural Gas Act does not require us to determine whether domestic production of energy for domestic use is in the national interest, because we rightly assume that domestic energy security is in our national interest. That is not the question posed by this bill. This bill would insist that exports are always in the national interest, and that is, as a technical term, total poppycock.
Should we drill on public lands? Should we use eminent domain to seize private property? Should we increase the price of energy in the United States? Should we increase global warming?
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Mr. CASTEN. Mr. Speaker, should we increase global warming? Should we do all of that just so that the natural gas industry can make more money selling U.S. resources to Asia--not to Europe, because that is where the margin is going. Or should we maintain the current law that simply asks us to determine whether that is in the public interest before permitting a new facility?
To paraphrase a great political scientist by the name of Jeff Foxworthy: If you think that is a hard question, you might be a Republican.
It is not a hard question. This is a bad bill for the climate. It is a bad bill for the economy. It is a bad bill for the U.S. consumer. Vote ``no.'' If you can't, at least be honest about who you are working for.
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Mr. CASTEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, this debate makes me sad. Energy policy is really important. Energy consumers are really important. The environment is really important. So much of this debate is completely untethered from truth.
There isn't enough time to rebut everything, but I want to clarify two points. One is where LNG exports are going right now, and the second is about the environmental impact.
It is true today that the majority of U.S. LNG exports, the largest volume, is going to Europe. It is also true that that really did help our European allies wean themselves off of Russian gas. Now, that is not because the U.S. gas industry was suddenly imbued with patriotism. It is because they were paying more, which is fine.
However, all the additional exports we are talking about are contracted out. Right now, they are going to Asia. Therefore, this is not a question right now about helping Europe. This is a question of whether they will make more money going to Asia.
Now, why are they going to go to Asia? Well, that brings me to the second point. There is an assertion that LNG is inherently clean because it displaces coal. Let's be clear. No one buys natural gas so that it will be more expensive for them to make energy. It will displace coal if it is cheaper than coal.
My colleagues are to have us believe that the United States is going to export gas to Asia so that countries like China can have cheaper energy and make their businesses more competitive on the global stage and that they are doing that because they are so committed to environmental protection.
Look, natural gas is methane, for the most part. Methane is 80 times as potent a greenhouse gas as CO
In the United States, that means that the wellheads, the collection facilities, the distribution pipelines, the combustion facilities, which we all in this body regulate, maybe we can get it down below that level, and maybe in the United States, it is less. However, we are not talking about that. We are talking about exports.
What is the leak rate on the ships? What are the leak rates on the regasification facilities overseas? What are the leak rates on the distribution facilities in those countries? Do we trust Chinese economic data so much that if they say it is not leaking, we will say: That is awesome. I am glad you are so competitive. I am glad you are outcompeting U.S. businesses.
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Mr. CASTEN. I am glad we made you more competitive. I trust your data, and we are just going to tell folks at home that because we were so patriotic and environmentally minded.
Like I said in my last remarks, this is a really good bill if you want to make money exporting natural gas. It is not a good bill for anybody else. Let's just be honest with the American people about this.
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