AEA: Over 11,000 Americans Tell Washington to Take a Timeout on LNG Exports

In the past four weeks, more than 11,000 Americans have signed a new petition calling on lawmakers to stop excessive exports of natural gas to countries that do not have free trade agreements with the U.S.

“This tremendous response in just a few weeks shows that Americans in all 50 states care about this issue and are scared their utility bills will go up at a tough time for so many working families.  They’re also worried about more jobs going overseas when people are still looking for work here at home.  This is the very definition of “public interest”, and we ask DOE to take these comments into account as it weighs even more export applications,” said America’s Energy Advantage members in a joint statement.

America’s Energy Advantage (AEA), a coalition of many of the world’s leading manufacturers and commodity producers dedicated to preserving the American manufacturing renaissance made possible by an abundant supply of affordable natural gas, engaged a wide audience in the digital space to gather the signatures necessary to send an unwavering message to the Department of Energy and the Obama Administration: Do Not Export Away Our Natural Gas Advantage.

The 11,000 signers of the petition on AEA’s website represent constituents from all over the nation, and join the more than 62,500 AEA community members who engage with the coalition and Members of Congress regularly on Facebook and their more than 13,000 followers on Twitter.

The petition, launched in early November, communicates the serious need to focus on the public good when considering the approval of additional LNG exports to countries with which the U.S. does not have a free trade agreement. To date, the Department of Energy has already approved five consecutive export applications, thereby raising the cumulative volume of LNG exports well in excess of what experts predict could cause domestic gas prices to climb, increasing prices for consumers and harming manufacturers.

[mappress]

Source: AEA, December 4, 2013