Clinical Instructor Shaun Goho today published an op-ed in Yale Environment 360 on proposals to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States. The article, In U.S., the Lure of Export May Further Fuel Natural Gas Boom, argues that the Department of Energy should authorize new LNG export facilities only in a slow and stepwise fashion. Mr. Goho describes the boom-and-bust cycle of previous efforts to import LNG to the United States and suggests that the significant uncertainty in natural gas markets counsels against a rush to build export facilities now. In addition, he observes that large-scale exports will drive an increase in hydraulic fracturing to extract natural gas in the United States, and argues that the potential environmental impacts from this increase in fracking should be comprehensively analyzed before DOE approves more export facilities.
