Baseball great Yogi Berra once remarked that predictions are difficult, especially predictions about the future. Few would disagree with Yogi when it comes to predicting America's energy production. A decade ago, many assumed that oil and natural gas would become increasingly expensive due to decreased production and foreign imports. Today, the fracking revolution has transformed the energy landscape, and American energy independence looks far more realistic than it has in any time in recent memory. The United States is now the world leader in natural gas production, and it seems likely to remain so for the foreseeable future.
That said, new opportunities bring new challenges. America's unprecedented levels of natural gas production require an upgrade of our existing physical infrastructure, but the legislative infrastructure needs to be brought up to speed as well. That's why we applaud the House of Representatives' decision to pass HR351, the LNG Permitting Certainty and Transparency Act. This bill would expedite American exports by requiring the Department of Energy to make a decision about liquid natural gas export applications within 30 days. Historically, these permits, which are only considered after extensive environmental reviews, have been bogged down in bureaucracy far longer than necessary. Imposing a deadline on the government to make a decision after the information has been considered is good public policy.
It's also good economics. A study commissioned by the Department of Energy found that increased exports could create as many as 45,000 jobs within the next three years. The Energy Equipment and Infrastructure Alliance projects that a larger LNG market could produce as many as 150,000 new, high-paying jobs. HR351 is a key component in making that possible.
The bill faces an uncertain future, however, as the Obama administration has dismissed it as “unnecessary.” According to White House Deputy Press Secretary Eric Shultz, applications are already reviewed “efficiently and expeditiously,” so this bill is a solution in search of a problem. Still, “unnecessary” is a rather tepid criticism, and it hopefully won't prove a substantial enough objection to force a presidential veto.
House Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Louisiana, predictably has a different opinion. He said in a press release that “[t]his critical legislation will bring the LNG industry into the 21st century and play a crucial role in creating high-paying jobs while increasing the export of affordable American energy to the global market.” That may be overstating the case somewhat, but it's hard to begrudge Scalise's enthusiasm. We may not be able to perfectly predict the future, but it seems obvious to us that HR351 is a step in the right direction.