February 8, 2024

The Honorable Jennifer Granholm
Secretary, United States Department of Energy
1000 Independence Ave. SW
Washington DC 20585

Dear Secretary Granholm,

As the voices of Appalachia’s natural gas and oil industries and the workers contributing to our nation’s energy security, we are writing to express our deep concern with the ill-advised delay on reviewing and issuing new liquified natural gas (LNG) export permits, and the consequences this will have on America’s global standing, environmental and clean air progress, and energy-related jobs across our region.

The widespread benefits of American LNG exports from a geopolitical, environmental and consumer perspective are well- highlighted and cannot be overstated. Providing one-third of America’s total natural gas supply and sitting atop the most prolific natural gas formation in the world, Appalachia production underpins these efforts and is fundamental to the long- term stability of energy markets.

For the U.S. consumer, there has been nothing better than the U.S. shale gas revolution. Since 2009, Henry Hub spot prices have remained half of what they were in the years’ prior, as our member companies cracked the shale geologic code and unlocked sustainable and affordable energy resources for American households, small businesses and manufacturers. Even after the first LNG cargo left America in 2016 in a move that propelled the U.S. into the world’s top exporter position, domestic natural gas prices have remained affordable, and well below the high fluctuating price environment we experienced before the shale revolution.

It’s the very energy developers across Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio who are keeping the natural gas supply abundant in the U.S. while providing the LNG that’s helping allies meet their own energy security, environmental and economic needs. As they are responsibly supplying this fuel that supports improved energy access around the globe, this industry is producing, processing and transporting natural gas cleaner than anywhere else in the world, while driving job growth, economic activity and prosperity here at home.

From an environment and climate perspective, natural gas produced in Appalachia has the lowest methane intensity of any other major producing region and, because of the fuel’s use in power generation, is directly responsible for the significant drop in U.S. criteria emissions over the past decade. As a result, our air is cleaner today than at any point since the dawn of the industrial revolution, and millions of Americans with respiratory challenges are benefiting each and every day.

In 2022, Appalachia’s overall greenhouse gas emissions intensity dropped 22% compared to 2018. Specific to methane, the basin’s intensity is 0.09% after reducing its already nation-leading low intensity by a considerable 11% in 2021, Clean Air Task Force and Ceres data shows. Further, reducing our nation’s ability to supply foreign markets, does not reduce the demand it simply forces our allies to rely on Russian natural gas that carries a 65% higher methane intensity than that from the U.S. That’s bad for our economy, bad for our national security, and bad for the environment.

Without LNG exports, the market for natural gas and development of these resources and resulting economic windfall would have been blunted. Our region was built by highly skilled blue-collar workers, and we are proud to carry on the tradition of providing family sustaining jobs, including countless opportunities in the building trades. The industry supports hundreds of thousands of workers in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia with quality, family-sustaining careers and has induced significant economic activity across our three states through direct investment and significant royalty and tax payments.

Simply put, by halting new export facilities, the Biden Administration is turning their backs on our foreign allies, forcing them to rely on dirtier energy that could otherwise be replaced by cleaner, American natural gas. By limiting access to future U.S. natural gas, foreign allies will be reliant on imports from regions that don’t share the same environmental commitments or values as we do.

Appalachia’s natural gas industry is home to some of the nation’s leading producers providing the energy solutions, sustainability, and America’s long-sought energy security. This dangerous political pandering undermines our work and will have dire long-term consequences for Americans and our allies across the world. We urge you to reverse this misguided decision.

Sincerely,

David Callahan
Marcellus Shale Coalition		 Robert Brundrett
Ohio Oil & Gas Association		 Charlie Burd
Gas and Oil Association of
West Virginia

cc: Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia Congressional Delegations