Opinion Pieces

This piece was originally published in The Dickinson Press.

For three and a half years now, the Biden Administration has been at war with American energy production as a political handout to their environmental base. This has threatened our energy security and has caused energy costs for Americans to skyrocket. These anti-energy policies have adverse consequences for rural communities across the country, including in our home states of Washington and North Dakota, where energy production occurs. One thing is clear – the Biden Administration’s attack on American energy production must stop now.

One of the most blatant attacks on American energy, and one that will have a great impact on North Dakota in particular, was the administration’s ban on future approvals of liquified natural gas (LNG) export terminals announced in January. The Bakken Formation in Western North Dakota is the third-largest American shale oilfield and plays a large role in our domestic energy production. Limits on LNG export potential will cripple the rural communities where production occurs and limits American natural gas from the future global supply.

American energy production and the ability to export resources around the world serves as the lifeblood for rural communities. Without the revenue and jobs from the energy sector, these communities would shutter, and Americans would suffer. In 2023, the United States was the global leader in LNG exports, which generated close to $4 billion in revenue. While Biden’s climate cronies claim that increased LNG exports raise the price of natural gas, the Energy Information Agency found the opposite. In the midst of record-high exports, the Henry Hub price index showed that prices were at the lowest point since the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The other misguided reasoning from the White House leaned on the effects of natural gas on the climate as a justification to implement the export pause. However, they are ignoring the fact that natural gas produced in the United States is cleaner and has a lower emissions intensity than Russia or OPEC+ nations. If the Biden Administration’s true aim was to reduce emissions, they would prioritize producing energy here at home and exporting it to our allies.

By banning future LNG exports, the administration is only surrendering our position on the world stage to hostile actors that don’t share the same environmental concerns. Keep in mind that 58 percent of American LNG exports go to Western Europe and South Korea where the alternative is to be dangerously reliant on Russian natural gas. The future limits on LNG hurt hard-working Americans, threatens our allies’ energy security and hinders any progress toward environmental protection the administration claims to be making.

As members of the Congressional Western Caucus, we understand that the West is home to bountiful and crucial resources that can make the United States an energy independent nation, while ensuring rural communities can prosper from the economic benefits of expanded resource production. It is long past time for President Biden and Energy Secretary Granholm to end the LNG export pause and prioritize American energy and workers above our adversaries.