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Vulnerable Dem senator flip-flops on supplying energy to China in middle of re-election campaign
Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who is locked in a toss-up re-election bid, expressed concern this week about U.S. energy exports benefiting China despite voting against a bill in 2022 that would have prohibited the sale of emergency oil reserves to China.
Brown remarked on Tuesday that he supported President Biden's recent actions pausing permitting for liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects, saying those projects could ultimately benefit China. The comments separate Brown from other more moderate Democrats, including Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Pennsylvania senators Bob Casey and John Fetterman, who opposed the actions.
"My focus is on protecting Ohio workers in the natural gas industry and manufacturers and lowering costs for all Ohioans, and I continue to review this rule and the impact it would have on achieving those goals," Brown told Politico. "I have concerns around letting American liquid natural gas fuel China’s state-sponsored industries that consistently try to undermine American production."
According to the most recent federal data, just 6.7% of U.S. LNG exports are shipped to China. The vast majority of exports are sent to Europe, which has relied on U.S. natural gas to wean itself off Russian energy amid the Ukraine war, and other Asian countries like Japan and South Korea.
While Brown supports a pause on LNG export permits, energy industry associations have argued it will harm the U.S. economy and energy security. According to the Energy Information Administration, Ohio is among the nation's top 10 natural gas producers, and American Petroleum Institute estimates suggest the state's energy industry supports roughly 351,530 total jobs.
In August 2022, Brown voted against an Inflation Reduction Act amendment offered by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, which would have blocked the Department of Energy (DOE) from selling petroleum products from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to Chinese entities unless their bid was 10 times higher than the next highest bid received.
While Brown voted against the amendment, other Democrats, including senators Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., and Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., joined Republicans in voting in favor of it. The bill ultimately failed after receiving 56 votes in favor, failing to reach the required two-thirds majority.....
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So this moron was for allowing the Chinese to buy oil from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve but now he is against exporting LNG to our allies because the Chinese might buy some of it. One is out of a STRATEGIC OIL RESERVE the other isn't. Blocking LNG harms the oil industry, hurts jobs, hurts our allies and helps Russia.
Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who is locked in a toss-up re-election bid, expressed concern this week about U.S. energy exports benefiting China despite voting against a bill in 2022 that would have prohibited the sale of emergency oil reserves to China.
Brown remarked on Tuesday that he supported President Biden's recent actions pausing permitting for liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects, saying those projects could ultimately benefit China. The comments separate Brown from other more moderate Democrats, including Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Pennsylvania senators Bob Casey and John Fetterman, who opposed the actions.
"My focus is on protecting Ohio workers in the natural gas industry and manufacturers and lowering costs for all Ohioans, and I continue to review this rule and the impact it would have on achieving those goals," Brown told Politico. "I have concerns around letting American liquid natural gas fuel China’s state-sponsored industries that consistently try to undermine American production."
According to the most recent federal data, just 6.7% of U.S. LNG exports are shipped to China. The vast majority of exports are sent to Europe, which has relied on U.S. natural gas to wean itself off Russian energy amid the Ukraine war, and other Asian countries like Japan and South Korea.
While Brown supports a pause on LNG export permits, energy industry associations have argued it will harm the U.S. economy and energy security. According to the Energy Information Administration, Ohio is among the nation's top 10 natural gas producers, and American Petroleum Institute estimates suggest the state's energy industry supports roughly 351,530 total jobs.
In August 2022, Brown voted against an Inflation Reduction Act amendment offered by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, which would have blocked the Department of Energy (DOE) from selling petroleum products from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to Chinese entities unless their bid was 10 times higher than the next highest bid received.
While Brown voted against the amendment, other Democrats, including senators Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., and Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., joined Republicans in voting in favor of it. The bill ultimately failed after receiving 56 votes in favor, failing to reach the required two-thirds majority.....
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So this moron was for allowing the Chinese to buy oil from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve but now he is against exporting LNG to our allies because the Chinese might buy some of it. One is out of a STRATEGIC OIL RESERVE the other isn't. Blocking LNG harms the oil industry, hurts jobs, hurts our allies and helps Russia.