Senate Committee To Grill Deputy Energy Secretary On LNG Pause

09:30 ET 14:30 GMT: The Senate Energy and National Resources committee will today probe Deputy Secretary of Energy, David Turk, on the Biden administration’s January 26 decision to pause liquefied natural gas export approvals. LIVESTREAM

• Committee Chair Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) will say in opening remarks: “Unfortunately, it seems the White House has already sided with climate activists determined to block any more LNG exports, and I am deeply concerned the White House will put its thumb on the scale at DOE to get the political outcome they want.”
• Manchin said in an interview this week, if the pause "is just another political ploy" he will do, "everything" in his power, "to end this pause immediately."
• It is possible lawmakers could strip DoE of powers to approve LNG exports but its very difficult to see any pathway for legislation through a divided and dysfunctional Congress.
• Bloomberg notes: "The administration’s pause has potential implications for more than a dozen proposals now awaiting review at the Energy Department, including ventures in Louisiana by Commonwealth LNG and Energy Transfer LP."
• Republicans on the corresponding House committee sent a letter to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm this week requesting a briefing from the agency: “The committee has not received or been notified of any scientific justification which would warrant a pause in authorizations or a long-term reanalysis of U.S. LNG exports. The previous studies were completed without any pause in the permitting process, and it is unclear, beyond a political agenda, why one is needed now.”