The future of America’s natural gas export boom has been thrown into doubt after a federal government report found that unbridled expansion would hurt American consumers and global climate goals.
A long-awaited Department of Energy study released on Tuesday said that the industry’s continued rapid growth risked driving up domestic fuel prices, increasing greenhouse gas emissions and supporting China.
The findings could open the door to legal challenges that would hinder liquefied natural gas export growth from the world’s biggest supplier even as Donald Trump takes office with a pledge to ship US gas to the world in pursuit of “American energy dominance”.