Sponsors (5)
This bill trades stronger domestic price protection, energy‑security oversight, and clearer public health and climate evidence for risks to export revenues, industry investment and jobs, and potential diplomatic and supply consequences for allies.
Households — especially middle‑class and low‑income residential consumers — get clearer evidence and a policy pathway to limit export-driven price increases, which could lower or avoid increases in household natural gas bills.
U.S. energy security and availability for critical infrastructure could improve by keeping more domestically produced natural gas for domestic use.
The bill highlights methane’s climate harms, supporting stronger regulations that could reduce greenhouse gas emissions and long‑term climate damages.
Natural gas producers, exporters, and energy‑region economies could lose export revenue, contracts, investment and jobs if exports are restricted.
Restricting exports or adding approval requirements risks harming allies and U.S. diplomacy — causing shortages or higher prices for partners, reducing U.S. leverage in global markets, provoking trade disputes, and slowing time‑sensitive shipments in crises.
Higher domestic natural gas prices could raise costs for energy‑intensive industries, push up consumer prices, and put manufacturing jobs at risk.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Prohibits U.S. natural gas exports unless the President issues an exemption approved by Congress to protect domestic energy costs, national security, or strategic partners.
Official title: Amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to ban the export of natural gas produced in the United States, and for other purposes.
Introduced December 17, 2025 by Edward John Markey · Last progress December 17, 2025
Directs the President to issue rules that restrict exports of U.S. natural gas and broadly prohibit exports of domestically produced natural gas unless the President issues a narrowly defined exemption. Exemptions may be allowed only when the President finds an export consistent with the national interest, will not unreasonably raise residential consumer costs, or is critical for national security or a strategic partner/ally — and any exemption cannot take effect without a joint resolution of Congress approving it. The bill amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to add this export-restriction authority, updates the statute table of contents to reflect the new section, and removes certain subsections of a 2016 statute provision. It cites federal and independent analyses linking increased LNG exports to higher U.S. natural gas and electricity prices and highlights methane and local health impacts from gas infrastructure.