PoWR Joins Call to Biden-Harris Administration for Rejection of LNG and Other Oil & Gas Infrastructure
The Parliament of the World’s Religions (PoWR) is joining organizations across the United States as a signatory of a letter calling upon President Joe Biden’s administration for a full rejection of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and other oil & gas infrastructure.
The letter was drafted in response to the January 26, 2024 decision of the Biden-Harris administration to temporarily pause pending approvals of LNG exports. Per the administration’s fact sheet:
Today, we have an evolving understanding of the market need for LNG, the long-term supply of LNG, and the perilous impacts of methane on our planet. We also must adequately guard against risks to the health of our communities, especially frontline communities in the United States who disproportionately shoulder the burden of pollution from new export facilities. The pause, which is subject to exceptions for unanticipated and immediate national security emergencies, will provide the time to integrate these critical considerations.
The letter’s original signatories Food & Water Watch, Oil Change International, Frack Action, Healthy Gulf, The Vessel Project of Louisiana, For a Better Bayou, the Center for Biological Diversity, Earthworks, and Friends of the Earth U.S. applaud the decision to halt pending approvals but reaffirm the critical importance of directing all federal agencies to stop all pending LNG exports and fossil fuel infrastructure.
The Parliament of the World’s Religions calls for an end to all new investment in fossil fuel exploration and development and for a rapid transition to a post-fossil-fuel-based economy. Our endorsement of this letter to the President, reaffirms our steadfast commitment to the urgent need for federally backed climate action and legally binding multilateral plans like the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. The letter shares a vital call to expand the pause to include stopping all LNG and related fossil fuel infrastructure permits across all U.S. federal agencies and institute a robust and democratic public comment period as part of the Department of Energy public interest review.
The Biden-Harris’s administration action on this issue is especially critical as the U.S. is projected to nearly double its fossil fuel exports. A 2023 report from Oil Change International estimates that, “Gas exports are projected to nearly double by 2035, while oil and petroleum product exports will rise 23%. The decline in domestic gas demand is tempered by an increase in gas consumption within the oil and gas industry, with gas consumption by energy-hungry LNG export plants growing by 140%.”
The letter is part of an effort to both stop LNG exports in the United States and the import of U.S. LNG in Europe, Asia, and across the world. Organizations from around the world in any country are welcome to sign.
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