The US Department of Energy has appeared to rebrand the country’s natural gas as “molecules of freedom”.

In a press release outlining plans to increase exports, Under Secretary of Energy Mark Menezes, described the resource as ” freedom gas”.

The statement said the move, to increase exports of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) produced at a facility in Texas, was promoting clean energy.

Mr Menezes said: “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.”

It comes as President Donald Trump has been accused of hampering climate change efforts, announcing shortly after taking office that the US would be withdrawing from the 2015 Paris climate change agreement.

Social media users have compared the move to another rebrand in the US in 2003, when french fries were named “freedom fries” following France’s opposition to the war in Iraq.

This has to be a joke. (Remember freedom fries?) https://t.co/ei9Idg613X

— Jay Inslee (@JayInslee) May 29, 2019

Freedom gas pic.twitter.com/Y135i068gJ

— Rabih Alameddine (@rabihalameddine) May 30, 2019

The statement said the expansion of the Freeport LNG facility is estimated to support up to 3,000 engineering and construction jobs and hundreds more indirectly associated.