Study found US gas exports did not impact climate change, so Biden admin buried it, officials say

FIRST ON FOX – The Biden administration buried for more than a year a final draft report that failed to prove that an increase in U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals was linked to a meaningful impact on greenhouse gas emissions, according to a copy of the findings, exclusively previewed to Fox News Digital.

The Biden administration stalled the release of the information, senior Trump administration officials told Fox News Digital, delaying sharing the data with House Oversight Committee Republicans. The Daily Caller News Foundation first reported that the Biden administration “intentionally buried” the study. 

The impact that new U.S. LNG exports had on the environment and the economy had been reviewed by U.S. Energy Department scientists and federal contractors, who by September 2023 had completed their work and had a draft final report ready for publication.

Fox News independently reviewed a copy of that draft study, titled, “Energy, Economic, and Environmental Assessment of U.S. LNG Exports.” That report and its findings were slated for publication in 2023 — months before then-President Joe Biden, who was still seeking re-election at the time, announced a pause on all new U.S. LNG export terminals in January 2024, citing the need to better consider environmental and economic impacts.

FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TO PAY ‘UNLAWFULLY’ RESTRICTED USAID FUNDS

A liquid natural gas tanker is seen in Port Canaveral in Florida. (Malcom Denemark/Florida Today)

The draft report found that across all modeled scenarios, an increase in U.S. LNG exports and natural gas production did not change global or U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, nor did it correlate with a strong uptick in energy prices for consumers, Trump administration officials said.

“​​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,” an official said.

“And both these claims were refuted in the report that the Biden administration hid from Congress and the American public,” the official said.

A copy of the report was shared Wednesday morning with the House Oversight Committee, which had been requesting the Energy Department to share its findings on LNG since March 2024.

President Biden pictured with his energy secretary, Jennifer Granholm. (Fox News)

A September 2024 court filing from Government Accountability and Oversight (GAO) revealed that the Energy Department was conducting an LNG study in 2023, Comer’s office told Fox News Digital. But DOE repeatedly declined to provide this study to the House Oversight Committee or comply with other requests for information.

“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,” House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer, R-Ky. told Fox News in response to the report’s release. 

“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.”

SCOTUS RULES ON NEARLY $2B IN FROZEN USAID PAYMENTS

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer talks to reporters before a House Oversight Committee hearing. (Al Drago/Getty Images)

The 2023 findings present the most definitive data to date that the Biden administration, and then-Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, misrepresented the impact LNG exports would have on the U.S.

At the time, Biden was facing mounting criticism from progressives in the party to scale back LNG exports, which during his term rose to an all-time high. The U.S. became the world’s largest energy exporter in 2023, underpinned by new demand in the EU, following Russia’s war in Ukraine, and its abrupt cutoff of nearly all piped gas supplies to the bloc.

To help alleviate the deep energy security concerns, the U.S. ramped up exports to Europe to a record-high, supplying more than 50% of their LNG, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

That prompted fierce pushback from progressive Democrats, including Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., which put new pressure on the administration for the pause.

However, rather than come forward with the report, the Biden administration continued to stall on releasing the study and declined to comply with requests from the House Oversight Committee to testify or share their findings, Trump administration officials said.

That’s far less significant than the data eventually released by the Biden administration in December 2024, after the presidential election, which suggested the rise in exports could cause consumer prices to rise by as much as 30% in the coming years.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

That sparked fierce backlash from both industry groups and Republicans, who panned the study as exaggerated and failing to justify the administration’s 10-month pause. 

Fox News Digital has emailed a Biden office spokesperson for comment but did not receive a response prior to publication.