A government oversight organization has claimed that the Biden-Harris administration’s choice to halt specific liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects might have relied on inaccurate information. The Department of Energy (DOE) announced the freeze in January to review the potential impacts of LNG exports.
However, the Government Accountability and Oversight (GAO) has claimed that a study conducted in 2023 with possibly inconvenient findings had been buried.
“GAO has already won in the key sense that it forced a stonewalling DOE to at long last admit that, yes, there is a 2023 study meeting that description,” attorney Chris Horner said.
The study “was sent to the senior political appointees in the Biden-Harris DOE, and has disappeared into the ether,” Horner added.
The revelation has raised concerns that the administration’s actions could undermine U.S. geopolitical interests.
Some believe it could deter investment in domestic energy, and satisfy environmental lobbyists ahead of elections.
The GAO has initiated a lawsuit against the DOE to access documents related to the study, which includes 97 potentially relevant documents that the DOE has acknowledged but delayed sharing.
“The page volume that DOE admits to confirms that this study was indeed very far along—why else would it have made it to the top politicals—and possibly, as we were informed, completed before being buried,” Horner said.
Critics asserted that the moratorium could weaken U.S. influence and energy security, particularly in Europe amid ongoing tensions with Russia.
