"Activists are accusing a White House-backed task force of illegally operating in secrecy as it develops a plan to wean Europe off Russian energy supplies.
The panel’s work has unfolded behind closed doors since late March, when US President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula Von de Leyen charged the group with helping Europe diversify its gas supply amid Russia’s war on Ukraine. A lack of transparency violates federal advisory committee law, anti-corruption group Global Witness alleges in a letter being sent to Biden on Monday. Environmentalists have separately filed an open records request seeking more information on the group’s work.
“The task force’s operations have to date been shrouded in secrecy,” said Global Witness senior adviser Zorka Milin. That is stoking fears the natural gas industry will have too much influence over its work, she said.
Only government officials of the EU and the US are on the task force — with no outside representatives of industry or other groups — and the Biden administration does not believe it falls under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, said a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named describing the panel’s deliberations.
The task force is charting plans to increase liquefied natural gas supplies to Europe by at least 15 billion cubic meters in 2022 — potentially through swift approvals for LNG export and import terminals. LNG exporter Cheniere Energy Inc. has been one of the task force’s “active participants,” Chief Executive Officer Jack Fusco said in a May 4 earnings call. The group has met with other industry members, according to the White House."
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