It's been a refrain from Republicans and some (honest) Democrats since President Biden took office and U.S. gas prices rose to all-time highs earlier this spring: Biden's decision to kill and over-regulate domestic energy projects has made the U.S. dependent on oil from foreign foes. But instead of reversing his oil and gas-killing policies — all part of Biden's stated commitment to ending fossil fuels — in order to give Americans relief, the Biden administration has blamed everyone but the president, from Vladimir Putin to supposedly greedy oil CEOs. Biden has dipped into the country's strategic reserves in response to a crisis he created, but the national average gas price is still $1.27/gallon higher than it was one year ago.
Meanwhile in Europe, where Russia has long used its control over oil and gas supplies to wield power over the free people in neighboring countries, heads of state are taking action to strip Putin of some of his energy power by building pipelines that are more urgently needed in the wake of Russia's decision to cut supplies to Bulgaria and Poland.
The European Union is hastily modifying its pipeline network to offer countries alternatives to Russian gas. One landmark project near completion will give Bulgaria access to global gas markets after Moscow cut off its supply this week. https://t.co/QFzhfOtKL5
— The Associated Press (@AP) April 29, 2022
As The Associated Press explains, Greece and Bulgaria are almost done with a pipeline — one of several energy projects the likes of which Biden has limited in the U.S. — to reduce dependence on Russian energy:
The 180-kilometer (110-mile) pipeline project is the first of several planned gas interconnectors that would give eastern European Union members and countries hoping to join the 27-nation bloc access to the global gas market.
In the short term, it’s Bulgaria’s backup.
The new pipeline connection, called the Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria, will give the country access to ports in neighboring Greece that are importing liquefied natural gas, or LNG, and also will bring gas from Azerbaijan through a new pipeline system that ends in Italy.
[...]
The link will run between the northeastern Greek city of Komotini and Stara Zagora, in central Bulgaria, and will give Bulgaria and neighbors with new grid connections access to the expanding global gas market.
That includes a connection with the newly built Trans Adriatic Pipeline, which carries gas from Azerbaijan, and suppliers of liquefied natural gas that arrives by ship, likely to include Qatar, Algeria and the United States.
As many as eight additional interconnectors could be built in Eastern Europe, reaching as far as Ukraine and Austria.
The 240 million-euro ($250 million) pipeline will carry 3 billion cubic meters of gas per year, with an option to be expanded to 5 billion. It received funding from Bulgaria, Greece and the EU, and has strong political support from Brussels and the United States.
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European nations are continuing to look into "alternative" sources of energy as well, but they know that there's nothing that's as quick and cheap as oil and gas to keep their nations' lights on, homes warm, and economy moving. Should they have worked to limit their dependence on Russian supplies sooner? Undoubtedly. But unlike President Biden, they're responding now that the crunch is on and the need is dire. Potentially worse than what's playing out in Europe, Biden took the helm of a country that was already energy independent, and killed off that independence.
Biden has subsequently refused to take steps that would make the United States energy independent again — making life, development, and innovation cheaper for Americans — and allow the U.S. to support its allies and reduce the power of hostile nations like Russia, Iran, and Venezuela while undercutting OPEC's ability to wage its price-fixing schemes. But due to his apparent coopting by the radical wing of the Democrat Party, Biden refuses to take the simple actions that would allow the U.S. to again tap its rich natural resources — ones that can be accessed, processed, and used in a cleaner manner than the supplies developed elsewhere in the world.
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