Nick Pope
Contributor
The Biden administration deliberately buried a final draft version of a study that would have undermined its January 2024 decision to pause approvals for liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects, according to four Department of Energy (DOE) sources.
Former Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and former President Joe Biden announced the LNG freeze in January 2024, stating that it would remain in place until the DOE could conduct a fresh study of the climate and economic impacts of LNG export growth. The Biden DOE finalized a draft of the study in 2023 and subsequently buried it because the initial version’s findings would have contradicted the administration’s rationale for the LNG freeze, according to four sources inside the Trump DOE granted anonymity by the Daily Caller News Foundation to freely discuss a sensitive matter.
“The Energy Department has learned that former Secretary Granholm and the Biden White House intentionally buried a lot of data and released a skewed study to discredit the benefits of American LNG,” one DOE source told the DCNF. “They were prioritizing their own political ambitions over the interests of the American people, and the administration intentionally deceived the American public to advance an agenda that harmed American energy security, the environment and American lives.” (RELATED: Biden-Harris Admin Accused Of Deceiving America On Its Way To Freezing Gas Exports)
ICYMI last night:
A government watchdog group is alleging that the Biden-Harris Dept. of Energy effectively deceived the public to impose the LNG approvals moratorium. @DailyCaller
Quick 🧵
— Nick Pope (@realnickpope) October 3, 2024
The Biden DOE had essentially completed the final draft version of the LNG impacts study by the end of September 2023, and that version was ready to be presented to top Biden officials shortly thereafter, Trump DOE sources told the DCNF. That particular iteration of the study, DOE sources told the DCNF, found that increasing U.S. LNG exports would actually bring about a reduction in global emissions relative to other scenarios.
That particular finding is at odds with Granholm’s analysis of the final version of the study released to the public in December 2024, in which she argued that any increase in LNG exports will result in higher global greenhouse gas emissions.
At the end of September 2023, a Biden administration official left a comment on the final draft version that instructed others to halt work on it until further notice, despite other language in the document stating that the final version was to be published sometime around the end of September 2023, Trump DOE sources told the DCNF. That version of the study was never released publicly, and the Biden DOE considered it to be a “working document” given that the agency subsequently categorized it as part of an internal deliberative process, according to DOE sources.
Additionally, the Biden DOE appears to have deleted numerous pages that appeared in the September 2023 draft version from what became the final version of the report released to the public at the end of 2024, the Trump DOE sources told the DCNF.
While the September 2023 and December 2024 versions of the paper bear the same name, the final version released to the public did not include a specific type of analysis of LNG exports known as the consideration of market effects, Trump DOE sources told the DCNF. That particular analysis — included in the buried September 2023 version of the study, but not the final product — found that U.S. LNG exports would bring down global emissions by displacing more polluting sources of energy abroad, and its absence from the December 2024 version allowed the Biden DOE to skew the final report’s findings against increasing LNG exports. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: GOP Lawmakers Press Biden-Harris Admin Over Alleged Cover-Up Behind Major Fossil Fuel Crackdown)
Biden Admin Appeals To Save Its Freeze On New Natural Gas Exportshttps://t.co/IyKK1YIgx5
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 7, 2024
The evidence showing that the Biden administration buried the initial, politically inconvenient version of the study and misled the American public in the process will soon be transmitted to Congress and to the public, DOE sources told the DCNF.
Granholm and Biden each made statements after the pause was announced implying that the administration was freezing LNG export approvals to pursue answers that Trump DOE sources say had already been found, and that Biden officials chose to ignore. Specifically, both Biden and Granholm suggested that increased LNG exports would be a net negative for the global climate, with Granholm definitively saying as much after the final study was released to the public in December 2024.
“During this period, we will take a hard look at the impacts of LNG exports on energy costs, America’s energy security, and our environment. This pause on new LNG approvals sees the climate crisis for what it is: the existential threat of our time,” Biden said in a statement the day the pause was announced. “While MAGA Republicans willfully deny the urgency of the climate crisis, condemning the American people to a dangerous future, my Administration will not be complacent. We will not cede to special interests.”
Notably, House Speaker Mike Johnson recalled to The Free Press in January 2025 that Biden “genuinely didn’t know what he had signed” when he asked the president about the decision to freeze LNG approvals in January 2024, with the Republican adding that he left that meeting with the impression that Biden was not actually running the country in practice.
The DOE stated that it would “initiate” a review to determine whether increasing LNG exports is in the public interest in its statement on Jan. 26, 2024, the day the pause was announced.
Granholm claimed that the final version of the study released to the public in December 2024 demonstrates that “in every scenario, increases in LNG exports would lead to increases in global net emissions,” and that “a business-as-usual approach is neither sustainable nor advisable.” When the pause was first announced in January 2024, Granholm said in a statement that the review “will ensure that DOE remains a responsible actor using the most up-to-date economic and environmental analyses.”
“At the time Granholm said that, they were literally hiding from the public the most up-to-date economic and environmental analyses available because it contradicted the very ban that they were trying to institute. They knew the facts well before they created a report that cherry picked the data,” a Trump DOE source told the DCNF. “When you look at what they hid and what they were saying at the same time, it becomes very clear that they weren’t interested in following the science to make decisions in the best interest of the American people. They were interested in making decisions that benefited them politically, and manipulating the science by whatever means necessary.”
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Pulling “studies” from their nether regions is normal for the Green Blob.
Them isolated episodes of corruption, man. These guys are bad sheep!
Unlike, uh, the economics (aka “dismal science” © Carlyle), Computer Science, affiliates of Big Pharma, psychololgy, or the vast fields of grievance studies plus all adjacent madhouses (q.v. “Human reactions to rape culture and queer performativity at urban dog parks in Portland, Oregon”)… See the problem? Teh “Green Blob” stinks, but it’s one seat among many over the same gigantic cesspit.
My rhetorical vice is understatement.
That sounds like a Harris word salad.
But Nick says that pausing approvals for gas extraction won’t cause electricity prices to rise. At least that’s not the cause of massive electricity prices in Australia.
/s (for the sarcastically challenged)
Granholm and Biden should consider themselves lucky that they do not have the same problem as Disney’s Pinocchio. Their noses would be exceptionally long by now.
Unless trimmed.
<_<
>_>
Charcoal is not a fossil fuel.
Technically speaking, neither is coal, oil, or natural gas.
None of those are produce by fossilization.
Chip it and send it to England.
‘The Biden administration deliberately buried a final draft version of a study that would have undermined its January 2024 decision to pause approvals for liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects, according to four Department of Energy (DOE) sources.’
I’m no more shocked by reading reports of the Biden administration’s dishonesty than I would be if I read an article entitled ‘Dog Bites Man’.
Really! Democrats Lie. It’s all about them and their political power, as far as they are concerned. Everything else is secondary, including the personal freedoms of the rest of us.
And money.
re: “It’s all about them and their political power,”
“The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power, pure power.”
-Orwell
Thank you.
I had forgotten that passage.
“The Phantom of the Autopen” again?
“Neera Tanden” would seem to be the one involved/responsible, according to one source:
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/saraharnold/2025/03/17/is-this-the-aide-that-was-behind-bidens-autopen-n2653954
Also: ” New Report: ‘No Clarity on Who Actually Approved What, Biden or His Aide‘ ”
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/preview/2653848?p=1742237670
The use of “their” in the quote seems to reveal Neera Tanden is trans-gender.
My problem with using preferred pronouns is it reveals personal information to strangers, which under most circumstances is highly discourage and ever forbidden.
If any of Congressional legislation was signed by the auto pen, then that needs a serious investigation. Without an original signature, there is no verification that the President saw the bill or approved it.
This is a serious concern.
Then we would have to determine if Congress was in session at the time it was sent to the White House or not. If not, it is a pocket veto. If yes, it is law without the president’s signature.
Verified signature.
Just a nit.
Wow. I did a Google search to see what, if any Congressional legislation was signed via auto pen.
This comment appeared in the top 8 listings.
The Joe Autopen Administration cements its position as the worst government in USA history.
Aww! We lack perspective. Consider Andrew Johnson and Woodrow Wilson.
Joe Biden was the Worst President in U.S. history. Everything he did harmed the United States and the People living here.
The current Democrat Party is the Worst Party in U.S. History. They don’t get their way and they immediately turn to intimidation and violence. Their current approval rating is 21 percent, a record low. We need to keep it that way. We don’t want to put these maniacs in charge again.
turn to intimidation and violence
Did you catch the protest a couple days ago where a speaker said that if the President isn’t removed, there will be violence?
I didn’t see that particular incident, but I’ve been watching all these radical Democrat politicians gloating over the attacks on Elon Musk and his Tesla company. The Democrats are deliriously happy about this.
I heard a commentator on Fox News this morning wondering why the Left is attacking Musk. It should be obvious: Musk is helping the biggest, most effective enemy of the Left’s socialism, Donald Trump.
It really shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that the Radical Left resorts to violence whenever they don’t get their way. History has very many examples of such. Violence is ingrained into Radical Leftists. They are not about Reason. They are about Emotion, and when things don’t go their way, they get violent.
attacks on Elon Musk and his Tesla company.
Problem is, they’re attacking people who have nothing to do with Musk other than purchasing one of his products at some time in the past. Someone is going to get hurt or worse.
They’ve now created a website that publishes personal information about Tesla owners, saying that they’ll take you off the list if you sell your Tesla. (Then what, the buyer gets put on it?)
Are they going to target me next, because I have StarLink? I’m just waiting for that to start.
“Problem is, they’re attacking people who have nothing to do with Musk other than purchasing one of his products at some time in the past. Someone is going to get hurt or worse.”
Yes, that is a real problem. And no doubt, many Tesla owners are Democrats. So the violent protesters are attacking their own people in some cases.
If it is found that Deep Pockets are financing this Tesla destruction, Tesla owners should file a lawsuit against these people for damages, and then Pam Bondi, new Trump Attorney General, should put them in jail.
She has charged three of these idiot Tesla attackers. All three face 20 years in prison without the possibility of parole. They will have to serve the full 20 years.
Bondi is going to make examples out of these guys. She is sending a message to the rest of the lunatic Left: You might be next if you resort to violence.
I suppose I should have said “one problem” since the attacks themselves are a problem on their own.
There’s also been a lot of “swattings” on prominent Republicans. Looks like Bongino is looking into those.
I don’t care who it’s done against, those need to be vigorously prosecuted. It’s amazing how little that happens.
We are considering Andrew Johnson and Woodrow Wilson.
Biden is the worst.
Andrew Johnson basically pissed away the Union victory in the Civil War. Aside from being a Lost Causer, Wilson was a protofascist whose “diplomacy” at the end of WW I led to WWII.
Joe Biden was a corrupt and senile leftist. But only marginally more a leftist than Obama, and less corrupt than LBJ.
You are entitled to your opinions. My opinions differ.
Refinement, opinions about Andrew Johnson and tangentially about Woodrow Wilson.
I agree about Biden.
yep-concise and to the point.
Biden has been involved/responsible for the death and/or displacement of literally millions of innocent people over his long political career (South Vietnam abandonement, Iraq turned over to Iran, ISIS allowed to run wild across the Middle East, and the Afghanistan debacle).
That’s in addition to practically running the U.S. economy into the ground over the last four years.
If Kamala Harris had been elected this time around, I think we would be assured of an economic recession in the near future, the result of Biden’s stupid economic policies, because his stupid economic policies would be continued by Kamala.
But, Trump got elected instead, and his ability to change the game might be enough for the U.S. to avoid a recession, as Trump inspires business confidence and brings in TRILLIONS of dollars of investments.
Maybe that will be enough to offset the economic harm Biden has done. Recent economic history has been filled with companies declaring bankruptcy and thousands of people being laid off, all of which are a sign of a slowing economy. Biden’s policies have caused the U.S. economy to slow. How much is yet to be seen.
As I said, perhaps the Game Changer will change this game, too. Let us hope. And I think it would be a very good bet that Trump and the U.S. will be successful.
I doubt Harris would have led us into a recession.
My bet is Harris would have led us into a depression.
Very possible. 🙂
Considered and declined. Both those 2 were poor, but not as purely dangerous and deceptive as little Joey and the swamp.
I think you have recency bias.
Yep. And the least transparent, aided and abetted by the mainstream media.
It will be interesting to see if the usual “tell-all” books that come out after each WH administration will allow us to see who really ran things, who controlled the Autopen, and what was the relationship between the various internal factions [Biden family, all the ex-Obama advisors, the Harris clown show etc].
Use of the Autopen for something other than mass-mailers [like Executive Orders, legislation, or pardons] would seem to be nefarious and quite damning regarding JB’s cognitive powers.
Speaker Mike Johnson said he had a conversation with Biden in which Biden said he did not sign a document limiting LGP export..
I wonder which autopen operator did sign it !
—
One thing with Trump, at least you know it is him signing the EOs. !
Does it in front of the cameras, the press and numerous other people… with a great big black pen. 🙂
In House of reps Speaker Mike Johnson’s own words at 6:41 into this video –
https://youtu.be/ofpOXEjG7WI?t=401
I said before the election that there were two important reasons to vote for Trump.
Proof again that the government can not be trusted and act in an honest manner that will benefit our nation. Individuals must be held accountable, Biden and Granholm told flat out lies that is not okay and they can not hide behind their offices.
Remember, Joe Biden, private citizen for 4 years after he left office had unauthorized classified documents piled in his garage. A DOJ investigation determined that Biden was incapable of understanding the serious nature of the security breach and therefore would not be charged.
This can only mean that he had dementia before he was elected president.
We haven’t heard much about or from Joe Biden lately. Is he doing OK?
I think Robert Hur said that ‘a jury could not/would not convict an old man with a bad and fading memory due to him being senile’ … words to that effect IIRC.
Biden was shown out in public the other day at a restaurant.
I think the Trump administration is looking into Joe’s ability to run the government while he was in office, and are looking at his auto-pen history.
The Trump administration is going to investigate all the Democrat crimes since Barack Obama was elected. The first step in that process is an investigation of former FBI Director Comey, who supposedly started an investigation of Trump that was kept secret and not done in regular channels within the FBI.
I suspect that the reason for Comey’s investigation is Barack Obama, and the Democrat Elites. The Democrats think they own the United States and when Obama was elected they set out to make that permanent by making it impossible for a Republican to be elected ever again. They almost succeeded, but enough Americans woke up in time and elected Trump again.
So, yes, we need a BIG investigation of all things Democrat. Their whole criminal enterprise needs to be exposed so it cannot happen again. There are a lot of Democrats who should be serving time in prison for treason.
Keep in mind, Trump was supporting Clinton and only changed parties when Obama was elected. He changed over disagreements in economic policies.
Clinton since then has continuously acted the role of “a woman scorned.”
Obama granted Biden and Hunter essentially a get out of jail free card for everything they did.
Over the course of 20 years, Pelosi using every nefarious technique in the political play book formally turned the Democrat Political Party into the Democrat Uni-party and the Democrats have been pushing for 1 part rule for the past decade or longer.
Trump said in an interview back in the 80s that if he ever ran for POTUS it would be as a Republican. Even then he knew his economic policy would be rejected by Democrats.
Yes, Trump’s history of interviews shows he has not changed his positions in all these years. Trump is the same guy today that he was in the 1980’s, and has the same view of the world that he had in the 1980’s, and his understanding of the problems we face is demonstrated for everyone to see.
Trump is a smart guy. He’s been a smart guy for a long time. He sees the BIG PICTURE in the same way that Reagan saw it.
Then add in that Trump is about the best deal maker in history, and we have a very unique person in Donald Trump. We got very lucky with Trump’s election. I know the Democrats don’t think so, but they are stupid and can’t see beyond their selfish, ideological noses.
And their bank account balances.
“Proof again that the government can not be trusted and act in an honest manner”
It’s proof that DEMOCRATS cannot be trusted to act in an honest manner.
A government of the people, by the people and for the people.
It is not the government that can not be trusted.
It is the many individuals who lack character and are in it for their own personal gain rather than the good of the country and the people.
Not the government. People in the government, especially those not elected or confirmed by the Senate, although that latter is not error proof.
Sounds very much like the report produced for the German govt a couple years ago on the effects of closing down their last 3 nukes, Green politicians took that report and modified it prior to release.
jail sentences would be good.
Even better, find those who made the call and make them pay all losses incurred by companies who were delayed.
re: “Biden Admin ‘Intentionally Buried’ Inconvenient Study To Justify Major Energy Crackdown, Sources Say”
Look, indiscriminate use of the Autopen mutes most of these complaints against Biden per se:
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/saraharnold/2025/03/17/is-this-the-aide-that-was-behind-bidens-autopen-n2653954
I refer the reader to the complaint by speaker Mike Johnson where in a conversation with Biden, Joe denied several times having signed a specific document that paused CNG/LNG shipments! That segment with the complaint by Mike Johnson is in the video below.
So I contend it was not Biden making policy or signing EO’s … it was his aids and the aid above who possessed the ‘Signature Card’ into which his signature had been loaded and which is used in a machine as shown below (use of autopen with authorizing Signature Card):
https://youtu.be/ofpOXEjG7WI?t=137
earn 10% on all transactions with the deep state, joe biden signature card…don’t try to destroy your country with out it.
It’s hard to tell which Democrat positions are Biden’s and which are his underling’s.
I definitely think the withdrawal from Afghanistan was Biden’s idea. He told his people to get the U.S. out and damn the consequences.
Biden did the very same thing to South Vietnam and to Iraq.
So I would say appeasement and lack of empathy are built into Biden’s DNA. Not that there are not a lot of appeasers in the Democrat Party, but Biden stands out, above the rest, and has for many decades.
The rest of the Biden administration decisions may or may not have been initiated by Biden. Although, I imagine those initiated by others were more or less acceptable to Biden, when he was in his “right” mind, seeing as how he is as radical a Democrat as any of his underlings.
Recall the several (not quite ‘many’ but enough to be memorable) instances where WH spokespersons had to ‘walk back’ certain Joe Biden pronouncements/statements on various subjects, especially those involving foreign governments and policies concerning.
Somewhere someone has a list of these walk-backs; analysis of those events and the personnel involved would be enlightening from the perspective of the question “Who was in charge, who is driving this ship?”
I guess we need to update our old adage listings.
“There are lies, damned lies, then there are Democrat pronouncements”
Out of curiosity, did Joe’s auto pen give ‘Dr Jill’ a full pardon going back to 2014 too?
I don’t know if Jill got a pardon or not.
Some Republicans are questioning whether pardons signed with an auto-pen are valid. I suppose the auto-pen signature would be valid as long as the signatory’s wishes are being represented.
I think Biden was lucid enough to know his family members were in trouble, so he probably initiated the pardons, and that’s all that matters. Of course, how are we going to determine Biden’s intent? We can’t. Not from here.
But we can ask a lot of questions. 🙂
Pre-emptive pardons are unconstitutional as ruled by the Supreme Court in cased dating back over decades.
A pardon can only be given for a conviction or an indictment.
Pre-emptive pardons are offers of immunity, which falls to Congress, not the President.
Commuting a sentence is not a pardon.
Also, the Supreme Court ruled that accepting a pardon was a confession of guilt.
I suppose the auto-pen signature would be valid as long as the signatory’s wishes are being represented.
There’s actually a DOJ document addressing this that I was reading yesterday. The test is that the person responsible for signing may delegate signing, but must have directed the signing of the document.
The legal question is, what are the legitimate means (aka evidence) of directing the auto signing?
I would think (personal opinion) that such items as EOs and pardons and similar should have an original signature, not an autopen, especially for the Office of the President.
Can a President be impeached after leaving office? No. A shame.
The recent Supreme Court ruling provides immunity from prosecution for actions taken within the duties of office, even bad actions.
Yes, but a former president can be publicly shamed if evidence of his corruption is uncovered. Especially if evidence of treason is uncovered.
I wouldn’t rule any of this out when it comes to Joe Biden. Stay tuned.
if evidence of treason is uncovered.
If something like that were to come out, I doubt it would fall under “performance of his duties”
I have my tub of popcorn and six pack and am watching all the “entertainment” as it occurs.
Same bat time. Same bat channel.
What is astonishing is that CO2 emissions decreased measurably when coal was transitioned to natural gas for electricity generation. It defies logic to claim that sending natural gas overseas is bad when the choice is low (or high) grade coal and natural gas.
I need a drink.
CCGT power plants running on natural gas do indeed reduce CO2 emissions substantially when replacing a coal fired steam plant. Also much cheaper than any renewable.
Yes, and that’s just what the initial Biden administration report said, too, that natural gas usage would reduce CO2.
But the Biden administration wants to promote windmills and solar, not natural gas, so they bastardized the report and rewrote it, and left parts out, and came to the conclusion they wanted: That natural gas usage would increase CO2, and this gave them the excuse to stop increased natural gas exports.
In other words: The Biden administration Lied to the American people for ideological reasons.
What else did the Biden administration lie to the American people about?
Do you have a few months so you can be presented with everything?
Pour two…
Cheers!
Quelle surprise!