Senator Joe Manchin vows to investigate Biden's LNG export license plan
(Bloomberg) – Senator Joe Manchin blasted the Biden administration’s move to halt the approval of new licenses to export U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) and vowed to use his power as the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to investigate.
“If the Administration has the facts to prove that additional LNG export capacity would hurt Americans, they must make that information public and clear,” the West Virginia Democrat said in a statement Friday. “But if this pause is just another political ploy to pander to keep-it-in-the-ground climate activists at the expense of American workers, businesses and our allies in need, I will do everything in my power to end this pause immediately.”
The White House announced the LNG export license freeze on Friday and said it needed to update its scrutiny of how the shipments affect climate change, the economy and national security — a moratorium that could last months and likely disrupt plans for billions of dollars in projects.
Manchin, a staunch advocate of his home state’s abundant supplies of natural gas, said he would hold a hearing in the coming weeks to “unveil the facts about the true state of play in the markets, this administration’s motivations, and their implications.”
