Sierra Club

Today Sierra Club released a new report highlighting the significant risks of exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG), and calling on the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to take a careful look at the dangerous effects of increased fracking on Americans’ water, air, land and health.

The report, Look Before the LNG Leap, cautions against the rubber stamp approval of proposed liquefied natural gas export facilities, and refutes the Department of Energy’s claim that it cannot predict where new fracking will occur as a result of approved LNG exports. The DOE has been using this argument as its main reason against performing a thorough environmental impact statement to study the full effects of exporting natural gas. The report shows that DOE's own energy models can and do make those predictions.

“The Department of Energy should look at the full picture of what exporting LNG will mean for Americans’ health, communities and check books,” said Deb Nardone, Sierra Club’s Beyond Natural Gas campaign director. “If we blindly move forward with LNG exports, the American people will be left footing the bill while natural gas companies rake in more cash with zero accountability for their toxic pollution.”

Shipping natural gas to foreign countries would increase dirty, dangerous fracking in Americans’ backyards, drive up energy prices for American families and put Americans’ health and our climate at risk—while doing nothing to address our nation’s energy challenges. DOE must do the right thing and begin an open, public environmental impact assessment before we blindly transform the energy landscape and communities across the country.

“This new report underscores the urgent need to move beyond all fossil fuels,” said Nardone. “An economy based on energy efficiency and clean energy sources like wind and solar is the only safe and responsible way to achieve true energy security while putting Americans to work.”

Visit EcoWatch’s FRACKING page for more related news on this topic.