New Records Request Targets DOE’s LNG greenwashing scheme

WASHINGTON – Friends of the Earth has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) pedido targeting the Department of Energy’s office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management. The request follows informes that the agency is colluding with industry behind closed doors to develop an international standard for differentiated or so-called “clean” gas in order to boost LNG exports. The records of interest concern DOE’s contact with oil and gas companies and trade associations in the development of these standards.

“The mass buildout of LNG has become President Biden’s single biggest climate justice blind spot,” said Lukas Ross, Senior Program Manager at Friends of the Earth. “There is nothing clean about LNG and it will only take us further down the path of climate disaster. LNG infrastructure needs to be stopped, not greenwashed.” 

The request also seeks records concerning DOE’s interactions with fossil fuel interests and whether the public has been adequately apprised of any LNG policy-setting decisions being made behind closed doors.

“An open government is one of the most important pillars upon which our democracy was founded,” dijo Hallie Templeton, directora legal de Amigos de la Tierra.. “If the DOE is holding secretive meetings with fossil fuel proponents, it’s likely that significant discussions impacting U.S. climate policy are occurring behind closed doors. Unfortunately, the administration’s pro-fossil fuel position does nothing to alleviate our worries. We hope DOE swiftly fulfills our FOIA request and puts our concerns at bay.” 

The FOIA requests comes amidst the Biden Administration’s alarming support for expanding U.S. LNG and repeated pushes in international forums such as the G-7 to justify new infrastructure.  The Administration greenlit the massive, $39 billion Alaska LNG project in April and new, long-term LNG contracts have skyrocketed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

Friends of the Earth recently demandado the Department of State for a second time over its expedited 2022 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking insight into Biden energy official Amos Hochstein and potential fossil fuel influence over the U.S. response to the war in Ukraine. 

Contacto de comunicaciones: Brittany Miller, [email protected], (202) 222-0746