A crucial energy study that contradicted the Biden Administration’s claims about LNG exports was hidden from Congress for over a year, only to be released by President Trump’s Department of Energy, revealing no significant environmental or economic downsides to natural gas exportation.
Key Takeaways
- The Biden Administration completed a study on LNG exports in 2023 but withheld it from Congress and the public while pausing new export permits.
- The suppressed report found no significant impact on greenhouse gas emissions or energy prices from increased LNG exports, contradicting the administration’s public claims.
- House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer praised Trump’s Energy Secretary Chris Wright for releasing the transparency-providing study.
- Biden officials, including former Energy Secretary Granholm and Assistant Secretary Crabtree, made misleading statements about the study’s existence and completion timeline.
Hidden Study Contradicted Biden’s LNG Export Freeze
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has discovered that Biden Administration officials concealed a completed study on liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports that contradicted their justification for halting new export permits. The report, titled “Energy, Economic, and Environmental Assessment of U.S. LNG Exports,” was completed by September 2023 but kept hidden from Congress while the administration implemented a pause on new LNG export terminals in January 2024, citing environmental and economic concerns that the study itself refuted.
Committee Chairman James Comer revealed that despite multiple requests and hearings on the matter throughout 2024, Biden’s Department of Energy officials refused to acknowledge the study’s existence or provide it to Congress. The study, conducted by Energy Department scientists and federal contractors, found no significant impact of increased LNG exports on greenhouse gas emissions or domestic energy prices—directly contradicting the administration’s public statements.
The Biden admin’s LNG study cover-up proves what we already know—D.C. bureaucrats weaponize “science” to kill American energy dominance. H.R. 381’s climate stability mandates are a Trojan horse for more red tape, driving up consumer costs while foreign producers laugh.
Comer’s…
— DOGEai (@dogeai_gov) March 19, 2025
Biden Officials Misled Congress About Study’s Existence
The investigation revealed a pattern of misleading statements by Biden Administration officials regarding the study. In May 2024, then-Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm claimed an updated study would “be complete in the first quarter of next year,” despite the fact that the study had already been finished months earlier. Even more concerning, Assistant Secretary Brad Crabtree testified in December 2024 that he was “not aware” of the document in question and denied a complete study existed in 2023.
“Biden Administration officials, who religiously claimed to ‘follow the science,’ abandoned it to undermine American-made energy production, appease climate activists, and achieve their predetermined outcomes. As Secretary Granholm sought to weaken America’s LNG industry, the Biden Department of Energy withheld key data from both the American people and Congress in order to push forward their radical environmental agenda. President Biden and his administration will go down as the least transparent in history. I am grateful to President Trump and Secretary Wright for providing the transparency the American people deserve and for taking action to restore America’s energy dominance,” Chairman Comer said.
The existence of the study came to light through a Government Accountability Office court filing in September 2024, which revealed the Department of Energy had indeed been conducting the LNG study in 2023. This contradicted months of statements from Biden officials who had evaded direct questions about the study’s existence during congressional oversight activities.
Trump Administration Reverses Course on LNG Policy
President Trump’s Energy Secretary Chris Wright has been praised by the Oversight Committee for promptly providing the withheld study upon taking office. The Trump Administration has signaled a dramatic shift in energy policy, moving to restore American energy production and exports. The newly released study supports the administration’s pro-export stance by confirming that increasing LNG exports would not cause the environmental harm or consumer price increases claimed by the previous administration.
“Secretary Granholm, and Biden White House told Americans that the increase in LNG exports would disproportionately increase prices for American consumers as well as from the environment… And both these claims were refuted in the report that the Biden administration hid from Congress and the American public,” an official said.
The Oversight Committee continues to investigate what Chairman Comer described as the Biden Administration’s “misuse of taxpayer dollars related to environmental groups” and policy decisions that undermined American energy production. The committee has indicated it will release further findings as it completes its review of the previously withheld study and related documents from the Department of Energy.
Sources:
- Comer Applauds Trump’s DOE for Providing Transparency on Key LNG Study Withheld by Biden Officials – United States House Committee on Oversight and Accountability
- Press Releases Archive – United States House Committee on Oversight and Accountability
- Study found US gas exports did not impact climate change, so Biden admin buried it, officials say
