Democratic Sens. Bob Casey, who is facing reelection this November, and John Fetterman, both argued the pause could hurt their state.
“Sen. Casey and I are very pro-energy, pro-job, pro-union and pro-American security,” Fetterman told POLITICO. “We stand with the president, but on this issue we happen to disagree. I am very clear. Natural gas is necessary right now. It’s a critical part of our nation’s energy stack.”
Republicans — including some who supported Biden over Trump — have said the gas export permit pause shows Biden is out of touch with working Americans.
“He calls himself Union Joe, but this decision to walk away from natural gas exports flies in the face of what he says about working class Americans,” said former Rep. Charlie Dent, a moderate Republican who represented central Pennsylvania and endorsed Biden in 2020. “He must not think their support is as valuable as the younger voters he is courting right now.”
U.S. natural gas exports have surged in the past seven years as the fracking boom propelled production of the fuel to record levels. Companies are now shipping liquefied natural gas in tankers carrying more than 12 percent of that annual U.S. output abroad — a figure that is expected to at least double in the next few years as LNG plants that have already received permits come online.
Many Democrats in Congress have expressed concerns that the growing share of gas devoted to exports will raise domestic energy prices, while Republicans have sought to portray the pause as a “ban” on new shipments that hurts the U.S. industry and will slow global climate efforts.
The gas industry has created a split in Pennsylvania, turning some economically depressed communities in the western and northern parts of the state into boomtowns. But the drilling technology is effectively banned in the Delaware River water basin along the state’s northeastern border, where fears about drinking water contamination from wastewater have generated strong opposition.
Democratic Reps. Chris Deluzio and Susan Wild, who represent swing districts in the state and
are top targets for Republicans looking to keep control of the House, have also told POLITICO they oppose Biden’s decision for how it could impact the 72,000 people that
work in the natural gas industry there.
Pennsylvania sealed Biden’s victory in 2020, pushing him over the top in the Electoral College after he defeated Trump in the state by 80,555 votes, or 1.2 percent. Trump had won the state in 2016 by 44,292 votes, aided in part by
Democrat Hillary Clinton’s remarks that “we’re going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business.” Though she went on to add that “we don’t want to forget those people,” her comments cost her support of Democrats in blue-collar union counties around Pittsburgh.
Jeff Nobers, executive director of the Builders Guild of Western Pennsylvania, told POLITICO that Biden’s decision to pause gas export approvals risks upsetting voters who played a key role in delivering him to victory in 2020.
Back then, Biden was able to
persuade leaders of fossil fuel-heavy building trade unions in Pennsylvania that his promised climate agenda — the most aggressive ever for a presidential candidate — wouldn’t harm them. Even so, the president was forced to
explain away some of his own words after an October 2020 debate with Trump, where Biden said that
“I would transition away from the oil industry.”
“When you look at what happened last time, he was able to walk back some of the things that were said about banning natural gas. But now there is a four-year record,” said Nobers, whose group represents a coalition of unions representing 60,000 workers and contractors in construction trades, many who work across the natural gas supply chain.
Nobers, a Democrat, voted for Biden in 2020 after backing Trump in 2016, but he said he’s now undecided about 2024 after the president’s action curbing natural gas export permits.
“He certainly hasn’t done anything to promote or facilitate the use of natural gas and it’s continued to be viewed as this evil thing,” Nobers said. He acknowledged that the export permit freeze wouldn’t affect the state’s natural gas output any time soon, but Biden’s “waffling” had him concerned.
Nobers said he is still committed to vote for Casey, in one of the key races that could determine control of the Senate, after being satisfied with his opposition to Biden’s LNG pause.
Casey, who is seen as having a tougher-than-usual re-election race this year, told POLITICO he would try to offset GOP attacks tied to Biden’s gas export permit pause by talking about energy investments that the Inflation Reduction Act and the…
Read More: Gas export pause could scramble Biden’s chances in Pennsylvania