Key Vote YES on H.R. 7176

The American Energy Alliance support H.R. 7176, Unlocking our Domestic LNG Potential Act, which would remove restrictions on approvals of exports of liquified natural gas.

The restrictions targeted for repeal by H.R 7176 are antiquated procedures left over from the days of energy scarcity. Fears that the United States was running out of natural gas prompted special approval requirements for any exports. This is not the world we live in today. Domestic natural gas production has nearly doubled in the last 15 years and the United States has become the world’s leading exporter of LNG. Despite fear-mongering when LNG exports first began a decade an ago, domestic gas prices have not increased as a result of increasing exports, and remain far lower than the highs reached in the 2000’s. Increased export markets have further encouraged investment in domestic production, fueling a virtuous cycle of abundant, affordable energy for Americans, domestic economic growth, and increasing American energy supplies to our friends and allies around the world.

Today these restrictions only serve as political tools. In the early days of LNG exports, the Obama administration used these procedures to unreasonably delay approvals of LNG terminals. Eventually the overwhelming weight of evidence of positive economic, environmental, and national security benefits from LNG exports forced that administration to relent. Recently, the Biden administration has again sought to delay approvals for political reasons.

It is long past time to eliminate these restrictions on LNG exports. Their original justification has long since been superseded by natural gas production growth. The restrictions serve only to increase costs and uncertainty in the LNG industry, undermining domestic economic investment and weakening America’s geopolitical position.

A YES vote on H.R. 7176 is a vote in support of free markets and affordable energy. AEA will include this vote in its American Energy Scorecard.