“And now, the Department of Energy is dithering with respect to liquefied natural gas exports.”

Click here to watch Sen. Barrasso’s remarks.

WASHINGTON, DC –Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), delivered the following opening statement at the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee forum on the opportunities and challenges for natural gas.

Excerpts of Senator Barrasso’s Opening Statement:

“Well, thank you Mr. Chairman for your continued, ongoing leadership in this area. Thank you for holding this important series of discussions on natural gas.

“I look forward to hearing from each of the participants today.  I appreciate your willingness to be here, to join us, and to share your knowledge and your insight.

“I think, Mr. Chairman, the ‘Wall Street Journal’ put it best in an editorial in November, November 14th, entitled, ‘Saudi America.’

“And the quote was, ‘Sometimes the revolution that politicians seek isn’t the one they get.’

“Of course I’m referring to the revolution that we’re seeing now in oil and gas.

“A revolution which has dramatically increased our nation’s oil and gas reserves, and it’s led to the creation of tens of thousands of good-paying jobs, billions of dollars in revenue for state and local governments as well as for the Federal government, strong economic growth in communities which produce oil and gas.

“It is now clear to many in Washington that people who are uncomfortable with this revolution—and they are doing all they can it seems to me to stop it because it doesn’t comply with a political agenda.

“So, for example, President Obama continues to seek billions of dollars in new taxes on American energy—taxes that are only going increase the costs for families to fuel their cars and heat their homes.

“Meanwhile, I believe the EPA has launched an assault on hydraulic fracturing. Last year, the EPA issued regulations based on emission data that was, and in some respects remains significantly flawed. 

“The Department of the Interior continues to push oil and gas production off of public lands.

“The Department is in the process of issuing hydraulic fracturing regulations for public lands even though public land states, such as my home state of Wyoming, adopted hydraulic fracturing regulations almost three years ago.

“And now, the Department of Energy is dithering with respect to liquefied natural gas exports.

“For generations, our nation has promoted the benefits of open markets, of free trade. We tell countries that open markets and free trade are the best ways to grow the economy and create jobs.

“Last year, the DOE commissioned a study on LNG exports confirmed what many of us expected that LNG exports would bring net economic benefits to the United States and that these benefits would increase as LNG exports increased.

“Now some in Washington want to reverse course and are asking DOE to block American exports.

“They believe a few bureaucrats in Washington can better allocate resources than millions of buyers and sellers in a global marketplace.

“History has shown time and again this is simply not the case.   

“To be sure, the government can and does play an important role in research and development.

“Federal initiatives helped develop the technology that has allowed our nation to unlock these vast new natural gas resources.

“However, absent from this success story were higher taxes, more regulations, and barriers to free trade—the very policies that the President and some in Congress support.

“I understand that today’s discussion will be focused on the issues of infrastructure, transportation,  research and innovation related to natural gas.

“I’m specifically interested in hearing from each of the participants their views on which policies are working, and which policies aren’t working, and their number one recommendations for Congress.

“Mr. Chairman, thank you again for your willingness to hold these important roundtables. I know your staff as well as Senator Murkowski’s staff has worked hard to put these events together to bring these leaders from around the country to join us.

“Today, I look forward to an open and honest discussion and I thank the participants again for their willingness to participate.”

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