Ranking Member Grijalva Celebrates Biden Decision to Pause New LNG Exports, Consider Climate and EJ Impacts
Washington, D.C. – House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today issued the following statement on the Biden administration’s decision to pause pending approvals for all methane gas (also called liquified natural gas, or LNG) export terminals. The pause will be in effect until the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has conducted a public interest determination, which includes—for the first time in history—an analysis of climate change impacts and harms to frontline communities.
“A healthier, more just climate future demands bold, transformational change to our energy system, and today, President Biden is showing he is up for the charge,” said Ranking Member Grijalva. “Aside from being untenable in the face of our climate goals, LNG exports perpetuate the fossil fuel industry’s long, shameful legacy of dumping their most toxic messes into Black, Brown, and poor communities with abandon. Today’s decision marks a major victory for those environmental justice communities, especially in the Gulf, who have been fighting for decades for their right to a healthy future. It’s long past time for us to recognize that the public interest does not include polluters.
“As the Biden administration moves forward with the public interest determination, I commend their commitment to analyzing impacts on climate and frontline communities, and strongly encourage them to follow both the letter and spirit of the president’s Environmental Justice for All executive order in their assessment. Our clean energy future must be one for all Americans, not just the fortunate few.”
Additional Background
This past November, Ranking Member Grijalva joined a 65-member letter to DOE Secretary Jennifer Granholm urging her to update the public interest determination process for LNG projects to include climate and environmental justice impacts.
In October, Ranking Member Grijalva, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) led more than 100 members in a letter to the White House calling to strengthen the assessment, disclosure, and consideration of climate and environmental justice impacts associated with fossil fuel projects.
On March 22, 2023, Ranking Member Grijalva, Rep. Barbara Lee, Sen. Duckworth, and Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) reintroduced House and Senate versions of the community-led A. Donald McEachin Environmental Justice For All Act to help ensure all Americans’ rights to clean air, water that is safe to drink, and an environment that enriches their lives.
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