Cornell University professor Robert Howarth ould be the most talked about climate scientist on Capitol Hill.
It’s not an enviable position.
Republican leaders in both the House and Senate have fired off letters in recent months to the Department of Energy questioning the science behind a recently finalized study conducted by Howarth that suggests liquefied natural gas developed and exported by the U.S. is 33 percent worse for the climate than coal, mainly due to methane emissions.
A draft version of the study was released in 2023, ahead of the export permitting pause announcement. Howarth said he did so at the urging of environmental activist and author Bill McKibben, who told him the Biden administration would soon be making a determination on LNG.
