天然气生产商警告拜登不要暂停美国液化天然气出口-彭博社

美国和近200个其他国家同意在去年12月联合国气候谈判结束时过渡摆脱化石燃料。

摄影师：泰·赖特/彭博社

天然气生产商和管道公司警告拜登政府不要采取任何行动暂停美国液化天然气出口批准，称这将浪费替换全球更脏的煤炭发电的气候效益。

“美国液化天然气是全球减少排放最强大的工具，可以通过取代全球范围内的煤炭使用来减少全球排放，”全球排放问题合作伙伴在周五致信能源部长詹妮弗·格兰霍姆和其他高级政府官员说。通过在本十年增加液化天然气出口，而不是按下暂停按钮，美国可以在“实现替代全球煤炭”的同时“巩固我们盟友的能源安全”方面取得很大进展。

在拜登政府考虑如何确定额外液化天然气出口是否符合“国家利益”时，这一警告出现了——这是出口液化天然气到非美国自由贸易伙伴国家的许可证的法律测试。政府官员正在权衡对额外出口的温室气体排放和气候影响进行更严格审查，这一审查可能会减缓甚至冻结能源部对新许可证的发放。

The PAGE coalition, which includes gas producer EQT Corp. as well as pipeline operators Enbridge Inc., Williams Cos. and TC Energy Corp., was formed to advocate policies that support the use of natural gas as a climate solution. Natural gas burns more cleanly than coal, producing about half as many carbon dioxide emissions when used to generate electricity. But environmentalists have warned that methane leaks from wells, pipelines and processing risk undermining those green credentials and that the construction of new, expensive gas infrastructure could lock in its use for decades longer, discouraging emission-free alternatives.

The US and nearly 200 other nations agreed to transition away from fossil fuels at the end of United Nations climate negotiations in December. But that pact also acknowledged that “transitional fuels can play a role in facilitating the energy transition while ensuring energy security.”