The climate scientist fossil-fuel companies can’t stand
Robert Howarth is getting under the skin of the oil-and-gas industry. The gray-haired climate scientist says he doesn’t care. Howarth, a methane researcher at Cornell University, said in a recent study that exports of liquefied natural gas from the U.S.
were so bad for the climate that ending the use of LNG should be a global priority. The research influenced President Biden’s decision in January to pause new approvals of LNG exports. The turn of events riled executives throughout the fracking industry—especially at Pittsburgh-based EQT, the country’s largest natural-gas producer.
The fracker extracts natural gas from Appalachian fields and has been evangelizing the benefits of U.S. LNG, which it says can help reduce carbon emissions abroad. EQT is campaigning to quadruple the nation’s export capacity by 2030.
T-shirts it sells online are marked with the words “UNLEASH U.S. LNG." William Jordan, EQT’s general counsel, said Howarth has been seeking to influence policymakers at the expense of rigor. He said Howarth crossed the line between research and advocacy, and his work contributes to a false narrative that shutting down natural gas pipelines and blocking LNG plants helps mitigate climate change.
“It’s a problem when the purpose of scientific research shifts from gaining understanding to influencing," Jordan said in the company’s first public remarks about the research. After Republicans and Democrats in Washington last year asked EQT about Howarth’s research, EQT did a deep dive into the scientist’s work. It put together a PowerPoint presentation for policymakers that raised questions about Howarth’s methods and his ties to anti-fracking groups, according to people familiar with the matter.
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