PRESS RELEASE: Increased Exports Are Causing Domestic Energy Prices to Skyrocket and Will Deplete U.S. Reserves Without Benefit to Climate or Trade Partners
(Washington, DC)
Commitments by the U.S. federal government to increase natural gas exports and permit the development of new export terminals in Louisiana are short-sighted and stand to dramatically boost domestic energy prices and cause catastrophic environmental harm, warned two energy industry experts in a new briefing by Gas Exports Today.
The gas exports the U.S. has committed to the EU to supplant Russian energy consumption cannot be fulfilled in the short-term and demand billions of dollars, years of construction, and devastating environmental consequences in the long-term, said Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizen’s Energy & Climate Program, and John C. Allaire, an environmental engineer who lives in Cameron Parish, LA, and worked with Amoco and BP on the Gulf Coast for 40 years.
“What we’re looking at is a need for tens of billions of dollars for natural gas infrastructure and shipments—massive investments that are going to become stranded assets in just a short period of time,” said Slocum. “The question is: Why are we committing to natural gas infrastructure when investments in renewable energy would be far wiser and more sustainable for the future?”
Allaire noted that if action is not taken to rein in oil and gas companies, we can expect the depletion of natural resources and the loss of natural protections from extreme weather events, such as the cheniers and tree lines that shield Gulf Coast residents from hurricanes.
“When each plant is built, it’s seven, eight hundred acres of wetlands that are going away. And when the market falls flat… are we going to be able to restore the cheniers? Are we going to be able to restore the wetlands? Is the government going to make gas companies bond their facilities? These things don’t just go away.”
A recording of Tuesday’s briefing is available at tinyurl.com/Mar29GET.
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