Dr. Robert Howarth:

I hope Ireland will not take our fracked shale gas. The whole world must move away from all fossil fuels as quickly as possible. Natural gas is simply not the good fuel the industry seeks to convince the world it is. While carbon dioxide emissions from natural gas are lower than from coal, that is less true for LNG than it is for piped natural gas due to the huge energy needs of the gas liquefication process. In addition to the CO2, however, we have significant methane emissions for which there is no reduction pathway. It is a climate travesty to allow natural gas to be viewed as any part of an energy future beyond the next decade. If one was allowing an LNG plant with the idea that one was going to completely phase it out within ten years, it might be logical. However, one cannot consider having a time horizon longer than that. I appreciate the chance to speak to the committee. I wish I could be there in person and thank the committee for accommodating my needs.