House Republicans Claim Biden Admin 'Abandoned' Science to Push 'Radical' Climate Agenda, Citing New Study

The GOP-led House Oversight Committee, led by Rep. James Comer, is accusing the Biden administration of withholding information regarding a natural gas study "in order to push forward their radical environmental agenda."

In a social media publication, the committee detailed that, as part of an investigation into the "Biden administration's ban on new export permits for LNG exports to non-Free Trade Agreement countries," its members requested a relevant study.

However, it claimed that the administration withheld the study and "abandoned it to undermine American-made energy production, appease climate activists, and achieve their predetermined outcomes."

The study was finally handed over by Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Chris Wright, with Comer thanking the official for "providing the transparency the American people deserve and for taking action to restore America's energy dominance." The committee provides links to the study and analysis, but makes no claim of its own regarding its content.

Rather, it provides a timeline of its requests for relevant information and the instances in which Biden officials did not provide it. The committee said it first requested information about the DOE's LNG export restrictions in March 2024 and attended a staff-level briefing in April to understand the rationale behind the decision. Later that month, DOE Assistant Secretary Brad Crabtree testified before a subcommittee but did not reference any study from 2023.

In May, then-Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told the Oversight Committee that an updated study on LNG exports would be completed by early 2025. However, a court filing by the independent group Government Accountability and Oversight (GAO) in September 2024 indicated that the DOE had conducted an LNG study the previous year.

In October, Republican lawmakers, including Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, called for the release of the 2023 study. When Assistant Secretary Crabtree appeared before the subcommittee in December, he stated that he had not seen the document and maintained that "a complete study did not exist in 2023."