Plus, lobbyist admits US LNG can’t meet EU methane rules...
From the Editor's Desk
This week, the Trump administration fired the latest shot at U.S. climate policy — attempting to undermine the scientific finding that greenhouse gases endanger human health and require the federal government to regulate them.
But this volley began long before Trump took office a second time and even before Project 2025’s authors called “to update the 2009 endangerment finding.” Geoff Dembicki reports that a complicated web of fossil fuel trade associations, policymakers, and industry-backed groups frequently put a target on this bedrock of climate regulation over the past 16 years.
As Senator Sheldon Whitehouse said, “the Trump Administration’s repeal [of the endangerment finding] has the fossil fuel industry’s oily fingerprints all over it.” Read the full story.
When President Trump muscled the European Union into the latest trade deal this week, he slipped in an apparent (but unrealistic) gift to the oil industry — a $750 billion pledge by the bloc to buy U.S. oil, LNG, and nuclear fuel. (Never mind that the EU doesn’t buy energy, that the U.S. exported less than half that energy to the world last year, etc.)
However, Sharon Kelly’s exclusive reporting for DeSmog reveals that a top LNG industry lobbying group believes the U.S. natural gas industry can’t meet Europe’s strict pollution standards. Still, export developers apparently gambled, betting the gas industry can force the EU to ditch its keystone methane rules or find a loophole for U.S. exporters. Trump’s recent trade talks with the EU represented a chance for the LNG industry to push the EU for climate concessions.
While we don’t have word yet on if the LNG lobby prevailed — Sharon reports that behind the scenes, some EU member countries discussed backup plans like slashing penalties to $1 to defang Europe’s methane laws, according to the Center for LNG, the lobby group.
This push for special treatment for U.S. exporters undercuts the claim that American LNG exports are cleaner or less polluting than exports from other countries, a major recurring talking point for U.S. exporters. Get the full story.
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Brendan DeMelle
Executive Director
P.S. DeSmog continues to keep you informed about threats to our climate across the globe — from up-to-the minute reporting to essential database profiles that help others fight climate denial and delay. Can you donate $10 or $20 right now to support more of this essential work?
Who Are the Climate Deniers Fighting the Endangerment Finding?
— By Geoff Dembicki (4 min. read) —
DeSmog has been tracking the efforts of fossil fuel trade associations, policymakers, and industry backed-groups out to demolish U.S. climate policy for years.
As Trump’s Trade Deadline Looms, U.S. Gas Exporters Are Sweating Over Meeting Europe’s Pollution Standards
— By Sharon Kelly (8 min. read) —
The EU’s new methane rules threaten U.S. LNG exports. But industry insiders and lobbyists are pressuring the EU to look the other way.
From Denial to Delay: How the Far-Right is Orchestrating a Climate Backlash in European Parliament
— Michele Bertelli, Barnabé Binctin, Bart Grugeon, Julia Seegers and Martin Vrba (7 min. read) —
A growing bloc of nationalist parties is undermining the EU’s climate agenda from within.
Reform Splurged £1.3m on Right-Wing Newspaper Adverts During Election
— By Adam Barnett and Sam Bright (5 min) —
Nigel Farage’s party spent almost a quarter of its budget with The Mail, The Sun, and Express.
Carney’s LNG Push Will Cause BC Fracking to Skyrocket, Expert Warns
— By Daniel Mesec (6 min. read) —
More than 30,000 wells needed over the next 25 years for new LNG export projects, calculates renowned earth scientist David Hughes.
From the Climate Disinformation Database: Center for Liquefied Natural Gas (CLNG)
The Center for Liquefied Natural Gas (CLNG) describes itself as a committee of the Natural Gas Supply Association. Bill Cooper, CLNG’s first president, was architect of the loophole exempting fracking from federal drinking water standards. Charlie Riedl became executive director of CLNG in January 2016. Riedl has promoted LNG exports of “surplus gas, [a] resource that wouldn’t otherwise be used,” calling that a “win-win” for the U.S. and its trading partners, exports that he said should be promoted despite Trump’s protectionist stance. In 2016, Riedl pushed back against White House CEQ guidance requiring federal agencies to consider climate change during environmental reviews.
Read the full profile and browse other individuals and organizations in our Climate Disinformation Database, Ad & PR Database, and Koch Network Database.
