Biden's LNG Export Embargo Hurts Farmers, Too

Salena Zito on Apr 2, 2024

In Pennsylvania more than $193 million was paid to farmers and landowners due to liquefied natural gas exports, and the amount paid in Ohio to landowners was $181 million.

Herr said that money doesn't just stay on the farm or in the family. "That money is out there being spent in the rural communities at local stores, barber shops, clothing stores, and it goes into the bigger cities where the farmer invests in new technologies and new equipment," he said. "It is significant and it is meaningful."

The pushback on Biden's pause has been notable. Pennsylvania's three major statewide elected officials, Sens. John Fetterman and Bob Casey Jr., and Gov. Josh Shapiro, all are Democrats as Biden is, but all three stridently oppose his decision.

"Everyone is looking at the impact on the industry as well as the national security. We also have to remember how it impacts our farmers and the economic opportunities they are going to lose out on," Herr said.

"Nearly $200 million is a lot of money," he said.

Anne Bradbury, CEO of the American Exploration and Production Council, said when America is the world leader in LNG exports, it isn't just the people in the industry that benefit, but everyone in the country does in ways they perhaps don't always think about.

"Not only do LNG exports strengthen our economy and our allies' energy security, but they also provide direct financial support to families, farmers and landowners in the form of royalty payments," she said.

In 2023, Bradbury said more than 200,000 different recipients in Ohio and Pennsylvania received royalty payments. "And that is thanks to America's leadership in exporting LNG. Those payments help families, revitalize communities and generate sustainable economic growth for this region of the country."

"Ohio and Pennsylvania lawmakers should unequivocally oppose and work to reverse the president's LNG freeze, as their constituents' livelihoods depend on a robust LNG export strategy now and in the future," Bradbury said.

Herr, meanwhile, added another concern.

"I think there is the other thing I think about when we put a pause on LNG; it also creates higher prices," he said. "When you stymie production, you raise prices, and we've all seen the impact of when farmers have to raise their prices because of energy prices like the cost of diesel. We haven't begun to understand the economic costs this is going to have."

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Salena Zito is a CNN political analyst, and a staff reporter and columnist for the Washington Examiner. She reaches the Everyman and Everywoman through shoe-leather journalism, traveling from Main Street to the beltway and all places in between. To find out more about Salena and read her past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.

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