Statement of Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food & Water Watch on Behalf of Americans Against Fracking
Washington, D.C.— “The Obama administration has announced plans to approve a seventh liquefied natural gas facility. But who is he serving – Americans, or multi-national corporations that want to export gas overseas in order to find new markets and raise the price abroad?
“The dirty truth is that increasing oil and gas exports to other nations will only accelerate fracking here at home, transforming rural and impoverished communities into sacrifice zones, endangering public health, natural resources and local economies.
“This announcement also foreshadows an upcoming Congressional hearing on exports. The escalating tensions between Ukraine and Russia have created new opportunities for the oil and gas industry to lobby for increased liquefied natural gas exports. But there’s an inherent contradiction at work here—fracking for gas cannot lead to energy independence if we’re just going to export that resource abroad.
“Fossil fuels should not be used as a geopolitical bargaining chip, nor should giant oil and gas corporations write our foreign policy. That’s why earlier this month, over 200 organizations called on the Obama administration to reject fast tracking natural gas overseas.
“The hypocrisy of the call for exports is highlighted by the fact that it will take years for our export facilities to be able to process the volumes of gas proposed for overseas sales. Ultimately, approving and building infrastructure is a lengthy, expensive process, and the limited oil and gas reserves available under U.S. soil will not support the money and energy needed to ship it overseas.
“Exporting gas aboard will cause prices to rise, sucking money out of the wallets of Americans and depositing it into the oil and gas industry’s already bursting coffers. Instead, those dollars would be better invested by creating a truly sustainable energy infrastructure. Fracking and LNG exports will only exacerbate climate change, inherently breaking President Obama’s promise to lead on climate, and leave American communities with a toxic legacy. In order to protect our communities, our economy and the health of Americans, President Obama and our Congressional leaders should reject oil and gas exports.”
Americans Against Fracking is a broad-based coalition composed of the following groups: www.americansagainstfracking.org/members. For more information about Americans Against Fracking, visit www.AmericansAgainstFracking.org.
Contact: Kate Fried, (202) 683-4905, [email protected]