Biden’s Political Ploys Endanger Americans While Emboldening Adversaries

With very few exceptions, every man who has occupied the White House has used the powers at his disposal to ease his chances for reelection. A bit of patronage here, a line item in the budget there, keeping constituencies in line is a time-honored, if vaguely sleazy, presidential practice.

A case in point is the Biden White House announcing it will “pause” federal approvals of new liquid natural gas plants in order to study their effects on the nation’s energy needs, its national security, and most importantly, global warming.

And if anyone doubted whether this was a sop to the greens, or just an exercise in bureaucratic caution, Mr. Biden made it clear he was siding with the greens:

“While MAGA Republicans willfully deny the urgency of the climate crisis, condemning the American people to a dangerous future, my administration will not be complacent,” Mr. Biden said in a statement. “We will not cede to special interests. We will heed the calls of young people and frontline communities who are using their voices to demand action from those with the power to act.”

Or as The Wall Street Journal put it, Joe Biden is listening to the TikTok crowd he desperately needs to support his reelection effort:

Press reports say Biden adviser John Podesta pushed for the “pause”—which tees up an outright ban—after TikTokers and [climate lobbyist Bill]  McKibben made stopping LNG exports a cause celebre. Mr. Biden’s advisers at the White House even met with a TikTok climate “influencer.” The Administration hopes its climate gesture will boost the President’s flagging political support among young people.

There may be worse ways to run an energy policy – price controls and windfall profit taxes leap to mind – but this bit of pandering is in a league of its own for policy that isn’t just tone deaf, but catastrophically dangerous. As The Journal notes, the alternative suppliers of LNG include some of the very nations the U.S. is expending billions to counteract in other parts of the globe:

…Russia, Iran and Qatar are expanding their export capacities. By the way, Russia last year supplied Europe with almost as much gas as the U.S. The White House says its pause won’t jeopardize supply to Europe, but energy officials across the pond disagree. Germany accounted for a third or more of the contracted capacity of a large planned Gulf Coast LNG project.

Nobody in the White House seems to understand that countries sign long-term contracts years in advance so they can plan their energy infrastructure and needs. They won’t build new gas plants or import terminals without supply locked in—or they will turn to more reliable sources. Russia now looks like a more reliable energy source than the U.S.

Undercut our allies, empower our enemies, and throttle one of the nation’s great economic success stories?  That’s the policy Team Biden has clasped to its election year bosom.

One might be tempted to call it cynical. But at least cynics have a guiding set of principles. 

And of course, all of this occurs against the backdrop of … expanding liquid natural gas demand amid war and turmoil in the Middle East. According to the International Energy Agency:

Geopolitical uncertainties are the biggest risk factor for global gas markets in 2024, according to the report. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, heightened tensions in the Middle East and concerns over deliberate interference with critical infrastructure such as pipelines all have the potential to generate further volatility. In 2023, policy measures and new regulations in key import markets were introduced with a focus on affordability and security of supply. The European Union launched its Joint Gas Purchasing mechanism; Japan initiated its Strategic Buffer LNG ahead of the 2023/24 winter season; and China is formulating its Natural Gas Utilization Policy, setting out the guiding principles for an “orderly growth in natural gas demand” in the coming years.

And thanks to Mr. Biden, the world’s largest exporter of natural gas is about to become its least reliable supplier. Somewhere, Vladimir Putin just can’t stop laughing over his great good fortune.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

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