There is no room for pollyannish policymaking when it comes to our energy security and national security. Sadly, it seems the Biden Administration is more concerned with the fringe opinions of green activists than the concerns of Americans and our allies in Europe and Asia. The policy in question is in reference to the newest decision by President Biden to halt approvals for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) export projects. This imprudent executive action will have long-term impacts that will embolden America’s geopolitical foes and impede our domestic economy.
First, a little history, back in 2014, The Heritage Foundation hosted an event for over a dozen military attachés from nations friendly to the U.S., our U.S. allies. The subject for discussion was; “What should the U.S. do to deter Russia aggression against its former possessions?” The answer was entirely uniform. They all emphatically asked that America publicly announce a plan to begin ramping up a capability to export newly found supplies of LNG to Europe and elsewhere, followed by the infrastructure products to make the announcement real. Now, in 2024 former Obama SecDef Leon Panetta agrees, in opposition to the new plan. Former Secretary Panetta specifically said, “I think it is very important to be able to provide that kind of fuel to our allies, for goodness sake. Because they've joined with the United States, they have lost the ability to have to rely on Russian energy. That's a good thing.”
After the war broke out in Ukraine, the Biden administration requested the US to send more gas to Europe to remove from Vladimir Putin’s hands the energy weapon he held over the heads of the numerous European capitals’ decisions makers. By giving Europe an option to get high quality LNG from America, Putin no longer had a monopoly stranglehold every winter. Additionally, other countries (notably in Asia) began the effort to convert from dirty coal-based energy to cleaner LNG now that they had the option of getting a steady source from America. A similar dynamic is occurring in Europe. Within a few years, America had actually surpassed Qatar as the number one exporter of LNG, an economic boon for American companies and workers.
Even the fossil fuel phobic Biden crew did not shut down the LNG efforts in its first three years (as they crippled other domestic production efforts). They did slow down the processing time for approval by the Department of Energy (49 days under Trump, up to 330 days under Biden). Despite that, American energy stakeholders and our allies were dealing with it, and our broadest national interests were being given appropriate attention. The fact that Europe was able to stand fast against Putin’s horrific invasion of Ukraine, through a winter, without succumbing to Moscow’s threats, tells you the policy was working. The continued move away from exclusive coal use to LNG across Asia also testified to the wisdom of the policy.
Ah, but this is now an election year, and the extremist forces within the Administration saw an opportunity to win a victory at the expense of security, national interests, and support of allies. They raised the threat that the green voter blocs might hold it against Biden that he did not 100% bow to their demands. They also worried that the delegations at December 2023 Climate Conference in Dubai will think America is insufficiently on board with internationally determined compliance levels (not applied evenly to countries like China). Apparently offending the sensibilities of unelected bureaucrats is far more concerning than hard security interests.
The green wing of the administration also thinks it is not even worth noting that the LNG exports are allowing progress – through the transition away from coal to cleaner LNG – toward a better environment. So instead of recognizing positive progress, they demand complete compliance, even if that is not a practical or even achievable target in the foreseeable future. Making decisions based on the demands of domestic fringe groups, or worse, the approval of fringe groups in other countries is poor policy in the best of circumstances, but when this is balanced against real national security interests, it is the classic exemplar of a self-inflicted wound. It has to stop.
Childishness and delusion, instead of pragmatic and effective policies is not a wise path. Let’s go for progress with proven actions that make the world a better place. Calling for utopia has never worked. Let’s continue to follow a plan that helps our friends, hinders our adversaries, builds up American capabilities and influence, while making the global environment cleaner. That seems like a much sounder way forward than playing politics with America’s national security.
Steve Bucci, who served America for three decades as an Army Special Forces officer and top Pentagon official, is a visiting research fellow at The Heritage Foundation.