天然氣生產商警告拜登不要暫停美國液化天然氣出口-彭博社

美國和近200個其他國家同意在去年12月聯合國氣候談判結束時過渡擺脱化石燃料。

攝影師：泰·賴特/彭博社

天然氣生產商和管道公司警告拜登政府不要採取任何行動暫停美國液化天然氣出口批准，稱這將浪費替換全球更髒的煤炭發電的氣候效益。

“美國液化天然氣是全球減少排放最強大的工具，可以通過取代全球範圍內的煤炭使用來減少全球排放，”全球排放問題合作伙伴在週五致信能源部長詹妮弗·格蘭霍姆和其他高級政府官員説。通過在本十年增加液化天然氣出口，而不是按下暫停按鈕，美國可以在“實現替代全球煤炭”的同時“鞏固我們盟友的能源安全”方面取得很大進展。

在拜登政府考慮如何確定額外液化天然氣出口是否符合“國家利益”時，這一警告出現了——這是出口液化天然氣到非美國自由貿易伙伴國家的許可證的法律測試。政府官員正在權衡對額外出口的温室氣體排放和氣候影響進行更嚴格審查，這一審查可能會減緩甚至凍結能源部對新許可證的發放。

The PAGE coalition, which includes gas producer EQT Corp. as well as pipeline operators Enbridge Inc., Williams Cos. and TC Energy Corp., was formed to advocate policies that support the use of natural gas as a climate solution. Natural gas burns more cleanly than coal, producing about half as many carbon dioxide emissions when used to generate electricity. But environmentalists have warned that methane leaks from wells, pipelines and processing risk undermining those green credentials and that the construction of new, expensive gas infrastructure could lock in its use for decades longer, discouraging emission-free alternatives.

The US and nearly 200 other nations agreed to transition away from fossil fuels at the end of United Nations climate negotiations in December. But that pact also acknowledged that “transitional fuels can play a role in facilitating the energy transition while ensuring energy security.”