Jan. 19, 2023
HARRISBURG—Rep. Martina White (R-Philadelphia) has been selected to chair the Philadelphia LNG Export Task Force.
“This is a special honor as Pennsylvania must better use the ports in Philadelphia and Southeast Pennsylvania to ship the state’s natural gas resources to the rest of the world,” White said. “This will not only create good-paying jobs throughout our region but help make us the leading energy exporter.”
The taskforce will be charged with creating a report and recommendations to be presented to the General Assembly and the administration including any actions that should be taken to facilitate the recommendations. The taskforce will be made up of members from the General Assembly, natural gas industry, Philadelphia building trades and PhilaPort.
“Natural gas is the cleanest-burning hydrocarbon, producing around half the carbon dioxide and just one tenth of the air pollutants of coal when burnt to generate electricity,” White said. “This has the potential to reduce near-term CO2 emissions and air pollution by using gas instead of coal.”
Natural gas is also cheaper to produce than other forms of energy. The most efficient gas-fired plant has investment costs of $1,100 per kilowatt compared with $3,700 for the most efficient coal-fired plant.
“That will dramatically reduce costs for our families,” White said.
White added that the invasion of Ukraine only outlined the reasons the task force must work with urgency.
“Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine made it clear the world needs to become less reliant on Russia for its energy needs,” White said. “Pennsylvania has the resources to help rectify this situation, and that will improve our national security.”
Representative Martina White
170th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives