Friday, May 15, 2015
YOUNGSTOWN
During U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson’s recent trip to Portugal, Belgium, Germany and particularly Ukraine, he said he repeatedly heard one thing from those countries’ leaders: please export American energy.
“Europe is begging the United States to lead on the economic and energy fronts,” said Johnson of Marietta, R-6th, whose district includes all of Columbiana County and portions of Mahoning County.
Johnson said he was among eight members of Congress to visit leaders in the four nations on a trip from May 3-9.
The House approved in January a bill sponsored by Johnson, a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, to expedite the federal approval process to export liquefied natural gas. The Senate needs to approve the bill.
The bill would give the federal Department of Energy up to 30 days to review an application to export liquefied natural gas or LNG.
Johnson said there are 33 such applications sitting at the department without a decision – some for a couple of years. There were five others the department approved, he said.
“We’re trickling along when we ought to let the market dictate this,” Johnson said.
Read more about the situation in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.