March 19, 2019 - 5:15pm
Two Republicans representing North Florida in Congress--U.S. Reps. Ted Yoho and Mike Waltz--are championing a proposal to expedite natural gas exports, insisting their bill will help the First Coast.
Yoho brought out the “Small Scale LNG Access Act” on Monday which “will expedite the approval of natural gas exports equal to or less than 51.1 billion cubic feet per year.” Waltz is cosponsoring the bill.
“The current permitting process for LNG export facilities is expensive, and small-scale projects often are not cost effective under current conditions,” Yoho’s office noted. “Reducing the time and investment required for small-scale exports will benefit U.S. production, manufacturing, and construction jobs while also reducing trade deficits with the importing country. Increasing LNG exports, even on a small scale, will positively impact the economies of the United States as well as the economies of those receiving U.S. natural gas.”
“With America’s vast natural gas reserves, JAXPORT in North Central Florida is in a position to be a valuable trading hub to meet global demand for Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) exports,” said Yoho on Tuesday. “At the end of 2018, demand for LNG has seen a sixty-percent increase from what it was in 2017. We must capitalize on the growth of this energy sector. Jacksonville is an ideal location to service the needs of the Caribbean, South America, and the rest of the world with abundant, clean-burning American natural gas. This will not only mean good paying jobs regionally but increased economic benefits for our state economy as well.”
“South and Central American countries have limited alternatives to Maduro’s socialist oil for energy resources,” Waltz said. “This bill makes American liquefied natural gas accessible and cost-effective to regional allies that no longer want to rely on Venezuelan oil.”
Yoho’s bill was sent to the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee. Three Republicans in the Senate--Marco Rubio of Florida and Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy of Louisiana--are championing a similar bill over in the upper chamber.
