Grace Nolan, grace@team-arc.com
Shannon Van Hoesen, shannon.vanhoesen@sierraclub.org
** READ THE LETTER **
Washington, DC — Today, 36 climate and environmental justice organizations sent a letter urging Speaker Kevin McCarthy and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to oppose H.R.1130 – Unlocking Our Domestic LNG Potential Act of 2023. This bill would strip away the federal government’s responsibility to examine the full impacts of liquefied natural gas (LNG) on consumer energy prices, national security, the environment, and local communities. Below is an excerpt from the letter:
“Thanks in large part to the massive growth in exports, the fossil fuel industry is already raking in record profits at the expense of consumers and future generations, yet their supporters in Congress are putting forward legislation to lock us into increased extraction, high and volatile energy prices, continued environmental degradation, and worsening health, safety and climate change impacts, particularly for frontline communities.”
Groups signed onto the letter include a broad coalition of environmental justice, local, and national organizations.
LNG is chilled and liquified gas extracted by fracking and drilling oil and gas wells. Communities living near these dangerous facilities face extreme health risks due to the high amounts of harmful pollutants released by LNG production and export terminals. Moreover, new LNG approvals threaten global commitments to reduce emissions and keep global temperature rise below 1.5° C – every fraction of a degree beyond which the impacts of the climate crisis magnify.
“Rather than passing an appropriations package to fund the government and avoid a catastrophic shutdown, the House Majority is instead using valuable floor time to consider giveaways to the fossil fuel industry,” the letter reads.
The vote on this bill follows the March to End Fossil Fuels in New York City – a wide-scale mobilization to urge President Biden to stop fossil fuel expansion and extraction – and tomorrow’s UN Climate Ambition Summit, where UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will ask heads of state to present concrete steps to accelerate the transition from fossil fuels.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.