Washington, DC — Recently, the Biden Administration released its decision to pause all pending U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) decisions on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) exports. This announcement is a major step toward protecting our communities, our economy, and our climate from costly and dirty LNG exports. For years, the DOE approved every LNG export license it reviewed, in spite of the concerns raised by frontline and environmental justice communities. CCAN Action Fund commends President Biden and Secretary Granholm for listening, taking action, and giving DOE the opportunity to include public health, environmental justice, climate, economic, and national security factors into critical LNG-licensing decisions for the first time.

Statement from Quentin Scott, Federal Director for CCAN Action Fund:

“This is a day so many frontline and environmental justice communities have been waiting for. On behalf of CCAN Action Fund members, we applaud the President for taking a bold step towards standing up to the big polluters and these dangerous gas exports to protect our shared climate. For the first time, LNG projects will be scrutinized based on their climate, economic, and national security impacts. We strongly believe that LNG projects awaiting permits will fail these tests because these gas exports only serve the interests of big oil and gas corporations.”

“This is a pause. As the White House said, more action is needed. We will continue to keep up the fight against the fossil fuel industry and its allies in Congress, who will do and say whatever they can to stop this progress and protect their billions of dollars in profits.”

Today’s action would immediately stop the approval of LNG exports from new facilities like CP2 until DOE fully reviews the Public Interest Determination policy used to decide whether these projects should move forward. Over the coming months, CCAN Action Fund looks forward to the opportunity to engage in the process to create a more comprehensive Public Interest Determination policy, which we believe will inevitably lead to the conclusion that these export facilities are NOT in the public interest.

Contact:
Quentin Scott, 773-859-8321, quentin@chesapeakeclimate.org
KC Chartrand, 240-620-7144, kc@chessapeakeclimate.org

# # #

The CCAN Action Fund is the advocacy arm of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, the oldest and largest grassroots organization dedicated exclusively to raising awareness about the impacts and solutions associated with global warming in the Chesapeake Bay region. For 20 years, CCAN has been at the center of the fight for clean energy and wise climate policy in Maryland, West Virginia,  Virginia, and Washington, D.C.