The Sierra Club's CD containing comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Trunkline Gas Company LLC's et al re the proposed Liquefaction and Pipeline Project under CP14-119 et al. (CD 3 of 3).

January 24, 2013 U.S. Department of Energy (FE34) Office of Natural Gas Regulatory Activities Office of Fossil Energy Forrestal Building, Room 3E-042 Independence Ave SW,Washington, DC 20585 LNGStudy@hq.doe.gov. Dear Secretary Chu: Thank you and the Department of Energys Office of Fossil Energy (DOE/FE) for accepting these comments on NERA Economic Consultings study (the NERA Study, or the Study) on the macroeconomic impacts of liquefied natural gas (LNG) export on the U.S. economy. We submit these comments on behalf of the Sierra Club, including its Atlantic (New York), Colorado, Kansas, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming Chapters; and on behalf of Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy, the Center for Biological Diversity, Center for Coalfield Justice, Clean Air Council, Clean Ocean Action, Columbia Riverkeeper, Damascus Citizens for Sustainability, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Earthworks Oil and Gas Accountability Project, Food and Water Watch, Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper, Shenandoah Riverkeeper, and Upper Green River Alliance, and on behalf of our millions of members and supporters.1 DOE/FE is required to determine whether gas exports are consistent with the public interest. 15 U.S.C. 717b(a). Although the NERA Study purports to demonstrate that LNG export is in the economic interest (if not the public interest) of the United States, it does not do so. In fact the study, prepared by a consultant with deep ties to fossil fuel interests, actually shows that LNG export would weaken the United States economy as a whole, while transferring wealth from the poor and middle class to a small group of wealthy corporations that own natural gas resources. This wealth transfer comes along with significant 1We have submitted these comments electronically. Hard copies of this document and CDs of all exhibits were also hand-delivered to TVA for filing, as requested by John Anderson at DOE/E today. 1 structural economic costs caused by increased gas production, which destabilizes regional economies and leaves behind a legacy of environmental damage. Indeed, an independent analysis, attached to these comments and incorporated to them, demonstrates that NERAs own study shows that LNG export will harm essentially every other sector of the U.S. economy, driving down wages and potentially reducing employment by hundreds of thousands of jobs annually. While LNG exporters will certainly benefit, the nation will not. An extensive economic literature demonstrates that nations that depend on exporting raw materials, rather than finished goods and intellectual ...