Firs it was “freedom fries” and now it’s “freedom gas” (STEPHEN JAFFE)

Washington (AFP) – Perhaps inspired by this week’s patriotic Memorial Day celebration of American war dead, the US government is saluting exports of “freedom gas” to the world, as a way to help allies.

In an otherwise unremarkable press release about an installation in Texas exporting more liquefied natural gas (LNG), a senior Energy Department official on Tuesday also hailed “molecules of US freedom.”

“Increasing export capacity from the Freeport LNG project is critical to spreading freedom gas throughout the world by giving America’s allies a diverse and affordable source of clean energy,” US Under Secretary of Energy Mark W. Menezes said in the press release.

The bizarre phrasing harkens back to 2003 when French opposition to the US invasion of Iraq prompted US lawmakers to rename fried potatoes as “freedom fries” rather than the usual “French fries.” French toast occasionally suffered the same fate in American eateries.

The Energy Department’s new nomenclature seems to have originated with a tongue-in-cheek question to Energy Secretary Rick Perry who in Brussels early this month equated LNG exports to US efforts to aid European liberation in World War II.

Perry said “the United States is again delivering a form of freedom to the European continent,” and agreed when asked by a reporter whether “freedom gas” was an appropriate term, according to a report by the Euractiv media network.

Another official, Steven Winberg, said the US “is doing what it can to promote an efficient regulatory system that allows for molecules of US freedom to be exported to the world.”

Disclaimer: Validity of the above story is for 7 Days from original date of publishing. Source: AFP.