With the beginning of summer and the deluge of other news, it’s been easy to miss the constant drumbeat of reports and events that highlight the critically important role that natural gas plays in our country’s economic and national security .

But if you take a step back, the trends are inescapable. Just last week, the Energy Information Administration reported that global trade in liquified natural gas increased by 5% in 2022, setting a new all-time record. LNG exports from the U.S. grew the most, increasing by 14%. In fact, during the first half of 2022, the U.S. was the world’s largest LNG exporter before falling back slightly in the second half after one export facility was closed for repairs.

That growth is expected to continue. At a recent conference in New York, Shell CEO Wael Sawan commented that continued investment in oil and gas is "critical" and that LNG will "play an even bigger role in the energy system of the future than it plays today."

At home, U.S. natural gas production continues to surge despite what are often lukewarm signals from the government. Two weeks ago, EIA noted that the Permian Basin, located in Texas and New Mexico, hit a new natural gas production record in 2022, rising by 14% from 2021. In Pennsylvania, revenue from the state’s natural gas impact fee rose 19% from 2021, hitting its highest level ever.

This is a good thing — and it seems that the Biden administration has even begun to recognize the importance of domestic natural gas.

The recent debt ceiling deal signed by President Joe Biden, for example, included the expedited approval of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a long-delayed project that would deliver natural gas from the prolific Appalachian gas fields to customers in the mid- and south Atlantic regions. A few weeks before that agreement, in mid-May, the Forest Service had actually completed another environmental analysis and approved a permit for MVP. That followed an April 21 letter from Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in which she expressed her support for the pipeline, writing that “the MVP project will enhance the nation’s critical infrastructure for energy and national security.”

Separately, in April, the Department of Energy approved an LNG export facility in Alaska. The $39 billion project would include a liquefaction facility and a pipeline across the state. If built, the project would supply LNG to Asian countries and compete with Russian-supplied LNG.

The importance of LNG, and the need to develop the requisite infrastructure, has become even more significant as Europe weans itself off of Russian pipeline gas. The G-7 group of major developed economies considered the issue during their recent May leaders conference, and while it wasn’t as strong as it could have been, their communique did reflect reality and indicate their support. The statement stressed “the important role that increased deliveries of LNG can play,” and then noted that “investment in the sector can be appropriate in response to the current crisis and to address potential gas market shortfalls.”

Some have complained that increased U.S. natural gas exports are not worth it because they impose an environmental and economic cost. But recent studies have shown that won’t be the case. EIA studied the issue and concluded that LNG exports would have a limited impact on domestic natural gas prices through the next several decades. And an analysis conducted by NERA Economic Consulting for the American Council for Capital Formation found that there are sufficient natural gas supply resources to support both domestic and export demand within a reasonably low-price range of $3 to $4/MMBtu (assuming no regional pipeline constraints).

The use of natural gas has also helped the U.S. meet its national climate goals. According to a recent analysis by the Clean Air Task Force and Ceres, the reported methane and greenhouse gas emissions in the oil and gas sector have declined 28% and 30%, respectively, between 2019 and 2021, despite an increase in natural gas and total hydrocarbon production.

The U.S. should capitalize on that progress. Government and industry have had discussions about certifying the emissions profile of U.S. natural gas, something that would be sure to boost its global appeal — and provide another counter to Russian gas.

So even as we go back to the ups and downs of the daily news cycle, we should not lose sight of the backbone of our energy system: natural gas. It’s good for our economy, it helps with our climate goals, and it provides a key lever in achieving our national security interests. It is not just a lesser evil that we should tolerate, but a strategic asset that we should celebrate. And even if they don’t make a big deal about it, let’s hope that the Biden administration maintains, and better yet increases, its support.

Jeffrey Kupfer, a former acting deputy secretary of energy in the George W. Bush administration, is the president of ConservAmerica and an adjunct professor of policy at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College.