CLNG comments on CEQ NEPA guidance

The Center for Liquefied Natural Gas (CLNG) has criticised the White House Council on Environmental Quality’s final guidance for federal agencies on incorporating the effects of climate change in their National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews.

CLNG is concerned that the guidance will create greater regulatory uncertainty that will hinder the development of the US LNG industry.

CLNG’s Executive Director, Charlie Riedl, said: “As CLNG warned in comments filed at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) earlier this year, this guidance not only fails to serve NEPA’s goals and purposes, but it also creates yet another arbitrary hurdle for the industry, which is already forced to navigate an unpredictable and inconsistent regulatory approval process.

“In the interest of lowering global greenhouse gas emissions, the US government should support American LNG exports. There is considerable evidence demonstrating that natural gas is poised to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions significantly. A lifecycle analysis report conducted by Pace Global found that if five key international markets continue to use coal instead of US LNG to generate electricity, their greenhouse gas emissions would be 92 to 194% higher. American LNG has an important role to play in the ongoing discussion about reducing global emissions and being a supplier of this strategic fuel is an opportunity that the US should embrace.”

Edited from press release by Callum O'Reilly

Read the article online at: https://www.lngindustry.com/liquefaction/03082016/clng-comments-on-ceq-nepa-guidance-2850/