WSJ Lead Editorial Cites LNG Scandal Outed by GAO

Today’s lead Wall Street Journal lead editorial, titled “The Harris Disguise, Energy Edition,” airs the LNG “pause” scandal outed by GAO litigation under the Freedom of Information Act.

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From the piece:

Recall that in January the Energy Department imposed a moratorium on LNG permitting after a TikTok campaign made the issue a cri de coeur. Energy claimed the pause was needed to study if exports are in the “public interest.”

This was a pretext to kick the issue past the election, as a Freedom of Information Act request by the Government Accountability and Oversight shows. GAO asked the Energy Department in June to turn over documents on any LNG export study transmitted to its Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management between Jan. 1 and Oct. 31, 2023.

GAO’s lawyer Chris Horner says he was told DOE had already conducted a study. Sure enough, DOE responded that it had identified 97 potentially responsive documents to the FOIA request, totaling 4,354 pages. The department refused to turn them over, stating they don’t represent a “final LNG export study” that “is ready for release for the public’s view.”

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