WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman August Pfluger (TX-11), a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, questioned witnesses in the full committee hearing yesterday titled, “Converting Energy into Intelligence: The Future of AI Technology, Human Discovery, and American Global Competitiveness.”

Earlier this year, four Department of Energy (DOE) sources revealed that the Biden administration intentionally withheld a final draft of a study that could have challenged the administration's decision to ban LNG exports in January 2024. The decision to bury this study raises significant concerns about transparency within the Biden administration's DOE, especially given that the study revealed LNG exports would lower emissions.

Restricting the free flow of commodities discourages investment in critical infrastructure, such as pipelines, which in turn affects downstream consumption - ultimately making it more difficult to supply the energy needed to power data centers across the country. This is why during the hearing, Rep. Pfluger questioned David Turk, who served as the Deputy Secretary of Energy during the Biden Administration, on the former administration's decision to pause natural gas exports despite reports that countered this decision.

Watch Rep. Pfluger's full line of questioning HERE or read highlights from his interaction with Mr. Turk below.

Rep. Pfluger: Were you aware of the 2023 study's findings prior to the January 26 decision to indefinitely ban new export authorizations under section three of the Natural Gas Act?

Mr. Turk: So we didn't ban any. We did the study in order to take a step back because we've authorized so much. Up to half of our natural gas production right now is authorized to actually go abroad and to be sold, including to China. So what we did was take a pause to complete the study. 

Rep. Pfluger: Pause, ban, we can debate this all day long. But why was the study not released immediately after it was done?

Mr. Turk: So it was. We released the study once the efforts finished the study. 

Rep. Pfluger: Do you disagree that the study was more favorable to LNG than the Biden administration would have liked, and that's why there was a pause put on LNG exports?

Mr. Turk: The pause was so that we could do the study before making decisions and to actually have our independent experts, and the independent experts in our national labs were the ones who did the study.

Rep. Pfluger: So do you agree that the emissions of natural gas were better and more consistent and actually more favorable than what you claimed and what Secretary Granholm claimed in the attempt to ban natural gas exports? 

Mr. Turk: So LNG exports have a very, very significant greenhouse gas footprint. So just one project, we're talking 4 BCF per day, that project itself has more emissions throughout the life cycle, methane emissions, but CO two combustion when that gas is burned, than 141 countries in our world. Just one facility, 141 countries in our world. That's pretty significant. 

Rep. Pfluger: So you stand by your decision to ban LNG exports?

Mr. Turk: Again, we did a pause so we could do the study so that any Secretary of State could have a good independent analysis.

Rep. Pfluger: Your decision to do that is going to impact these guys right here. It's going to impact our ability to provide power for the AI data center.

Background:

This questioning follows news first reported on by the Daily Caller claiming that Biden Administration officials 'intentionally buried' studies to justify their major crackdown on energy.

Rep. Pfluger also introduced the "Unlocking our Domestic LNG Potential Act" earlier this year to shift responsibility for approving liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects out of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) hands after the department unilaterally froze approvals for such projects for most of 2024 under the Biden administration.