[Peace-discuss] Fracking, Gas Export, and War Policy: "Follow the Money: Three Energy Export Congressional Hearings, No Climate Change Discussion"

[Stuart Levy]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	[ACTNET-FRAC-NEWS] desmogblog: Follow the Money: Three Energy 
Export Congressional Hearings, No Climate Change Discussion
Date: 	Wed, 26 Mar 2014 11:00:15 -0400
From: 	Deb Nardone <deb.nardone at SIERRACLUB.ORG>
Reply-To: 	Deb Nardone <deb.nardone at SIERRACLUB.ORG>
To: 	<ACTNET-FRAC-NEWS at LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG>



http://desmogblog.com/2014/03/26/follow-the-money-3-energy-export-congressional-hearings-no-climate-change-discussion



    Follow the Money: Three Energy Export Congressional Hearings, No
    Climate Change Discussion

In light of ongoing geopolitical tensions in Russia, Ukraine and hotly 
contested Crimea 
<http://www.desmogblog.com/2014/03/17/exxonmobil-russia-rosneft-gas-export-weapon>, 
three (yes, three!) U.S.Congressional Committees held hearings this week 
on the U.S. using its newfangled oil and gas bounty as a blunt tool to 
fend off Russian dominance of the global gas market.

Though 14 combined witnesses testified in front of the U.S. Senate 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 
<http://www.energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/hearings-and-business-meetings?ID=dd0bea89-0bbd-449b-8651-7ef390e88e44>, 
the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Energy 
and Power 
<http://energycommerce.house.gov/hearing/hr-6-domestic-prosperity-and-global-freedom-act> andU.S. Senate 
Committee on Foreign Relations 
<http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/hearing/hearing-geopolitical-potential-us-energy-boom>, 
not a single environmental voice received an invitation.

Using the ongoing regional tumult as a rationale to discuss exports 
ofU.S. oil and gas obtained mainly via hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") 
<http://www.desmogblog.com/fracking-the-future/>, the lack of discussion 
on climate change doesn't mean the issue isn't important to national 
security types.

Indeed, the Pentagon's recently published Quadrennial Defense Review 
coins climate change a "threat force multiplier" 
<http://www.desmogblog.com/2014/03/05/pentagon-climate-change-impacts-threat-multipliers-could-enable-terrorism> that 
could lead to resource scarcity and resource wars. Though directly 
related to rampant resource extraction and global oil and gas marketing, 
with fracking's accompanying climate change and ecological impacts 
<http://www.desmogblog.com/fracking-the-future/>, "threat force 
multiplication" impacts of climate change went undiscussed.

With another LNG (liquefied natural gas) export terminal approved 
<http://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2014/03/f13/ord3413.pdf> by the 
U.S.Department of Energy (DOE) in Coos Bay, Ore., to non-Free Trade 
Agreement countries on March 24 (the seventh so far, with two dozen 
still pending 
<http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2014/03/feds_approve_lng_exports_from.html>), 
the heat is on to export U.S. fracked oil and gas to the global market.

So, why wasn't the LNG climate trump card 
<http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/03/12/3384911/exporting-lng-climate/> discussed? 
Well, just consider the source: ten of the witnesses had ties in one way 
or another to the oil and gas industry.

Read more here 
<http://desmogblog.com/2014/03/26/follow-the-money-3-energy-export-congressional-hearings-no-climate-change-discussion>.


-- 
Deborah J. Nardone, Director
Keeping Dirty Fuels in the Ground Initiative
Our Wild America and Beyond Natural Gas Campaigns
Sierra Club

O:  814-308-9767
C: 814-932-6668

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