USA Today has an editorial calling on the Energy Department to approve the more than a dozen pending applications for permits to export natural gas. The editorial says wellhead natural gas prices in America are now around $2.50 per million British thermal units, while in Asia it can be above $18. "Let the free market work," the editorial says.
The newspaper also runs a column from Senator Wyden of Oregon and Congressman Ed Markey of Massachusetts taking the opposite point of view. This site had a post back in May about Markey's natural gas protectionism.