[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 13 (Wednesday, January 24, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S229]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                 Energy

  Now, Mr. President, on another matter, when President Biden took 
office, the average approval time for liquefied natural gas--LNG--
permits was about 7 weeks. Right now, it is about 11 months. But soon, 
wait times could actually become irrelevant.
  At the behest of climate activists, the administration is now 
considering adding a climate test to the national interest analysis 
regulators conduct before approving new LNG projects--never mind that 
climate interests all too often run in the exact opposite direction of 
America's national interests. This move would amount to a functional 
ban on new LNG export permits.
  The administration's war on affordable domestic energy has been bad 
news for American workers and consumers alike. Radical policies from 
the EPA are killing jobs in coal and auto manufacturing. Regulatory 
nudging is forcing automakers to produce a supply of electric vehicles 
for which there is insufficient demand. Now further limits to LNG 
exports will only send energy costs higher at a time that the West is 
trying to reduce its reliance on Russian energy.
  This agenda is not just bad for Americans at home either; it is 
directly at odds with American interests on the world stage. From 
Russia to Iran to China, it is abundantly clear that our adversaries 
are not waiting for us to wake up from this experiment in green self-
harm. Russia is building a new export facility for liquefied natural 
gas that is scheduled to be up and operating as soon as next year. Iran 
is also in the process of completing an LNG export facility to be ready 
next year as well.
  It should go without saying that increasing global reliance on 
Russian and Iranian energy is not sound strategy. The Secretary of 
Energy herself has described Russian gas as the ``dirtiest form of 
natural gas on Earth.'' China, for its part, increased its emissions 
last year by double the amount U.S. emissions actually declined.
  Our allies in Europe are increasingly relying on us to keep their 
lights and their heat running. It was LNG exports from the United 
States that allowed Europe to reduce its reliance on Russian energy in 
the wake of their attack on Ukraine.
  So if the Biden administration is foolish enough to shut down our LNG 
exports or saddle their national interest analysis with Green New Deal 
schemes, I hope they understand which nations' interests they are 
advancing.
  Choose our Nation's interests or blindly follow some green, radical 
scheme to empower our political rivals in China, Iran, and Russia. It 
is hard to fathom that this is even a question the Biden administration 
is contemplating.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. TUBERVILLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.