U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Ted Cruz (R-TX), U.S. Representative Dan Crenshaw (R-TX-02), and colleagues filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to rehear or rehear en banc City of Port Isabel v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The amicus brief aims to ensure that federal courts correctly interpret and apply the Natural Gas Act, which encourages the development of natural gas resources and infrastructure.
The brief highlights the interest to protect American jobs, strengthen national security, and restore energy independence.
“In the Natural Gas Act (NGA), Congress said that building LNG facilities is strongly in the public interest of the United States. NGA Section 3 sets up a ‘general presumption favoring authorization’ of LNG facilities. To that end, Congress dictated that FERC ‘shall’ approve an application to export natural gas ‘unless, after opportunity for hearing, it finds that the proposed exportation . . . will not be consistent with the public interest.’ […] The Commission’s job is to approve LNG facilities unless they are clearly ‘not . . . consistent’ with the public interest. It is not the Court’s job to make the publicinterest determination for FERC by deciding that environmental whimsy is more important than building LNG facilities,” wrote the members.