FP: Biden’s ban on LNG exports was a gift for Russian President Putin and scared the EU
Representatives of the Republican Party called US President Joe Biden's decision to ban the export of liquefied natural gas (LNG) abroad a gift to Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Foreign Policy writes about this.
The Biden administration's suspension of approvals for new US LNG export contracts has infuriated Republicans. (…) Calling it a gift to Putin, they opposed the move, which they say threatens the security of US allies
The authors of the publication note that the American leader’s decision was criticized in Europe and Asia. According to the United States' European and Asian partners, a ban on LNG exports could jeopardize their ability to find alternative energy sources.
The publication’s journalists also expressed the opinion that Biden, with his decision, undermined efforts to help Europe reduce its dependence on Russian gas, thereby “giving a gift to Putin.”
In the US, they pointed to the victory of environmental activists over Biden
On January 26, Biden announced the suspension of the procedure for approving new contracts for gas exports from the United States. He explained this step by the situation with climate change. However, US Presidential Assistant and National Climate Adviser Ali Zaidi assured that the United States will continue to supply LNG to Europe.
Photo: Gary Cameron/Reuters
American edition of The Wall Street Journal believesthat Biden's decision is a victory for climate groups who have demanded a halt to the construction of new LNG facilities on the Gulf Coast.
In turn, Reuters notes that this step by the head of state may cause to delay investment in the construction of new US LNG production facilities.
Congress called Biden's gas decision a disgusting failure
Republican Senator from Texas Ted Cruz, in turn, called Biden's decision aid to Russia.
Last week – what did Joe Biden do? – he announced what I call a subsidy to Vladimir Putin from Joe Biden: he blocked future LNG exports, which means that Europe will have to buy it from Russia instead of the States
According to Cruz, the decision of the American leader is an example of his weakness and deprives Americans of jobs, and also “helps Putin.”
At the same time, the US Congress called this step by the president a disgusting failure. Thus, Speaker of the US House of Representatives Mike Johnson noted that Biden, relying on the position of environmental activists, is expanding Moscow’s capabilities and weakening the energy security of the United States. The speaker called this decision a disgusting failure.
Photo: Callaghan O'Hare/Reuters
The West has assessed “Biden’s gift to Putin”
Meanwhile, Foreign Policy journalists interviewed experts in the energy industry about “Biden’s gift to Putin,” but they did not notice any reasons for critical consequences. Thus, Lukas Trakimavičius, a specialist in energy geopolitics at the Institute for Security Studies of the European Union, noted that in the short and medium term he does not see any impact on the LNG market or, more specifically, on European energy security. “People don’t understand that this is just a pause,” he pointed out.
Kevin Book, managing director of energy consulting company ClearView Energy Partners, stressed that the problems with Biden's decision are less about specific projects and more about sending a signal to allies.
Biden announced strengthening energy security thanks to the actions of the US and the EU
Last March, Biden said that it was the actions of the United States and the European Union (EU) that led to the strengthening of energy security in the world.
At a meeting with the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, at the White House, he summed up Washington's policies over several years.
The steps taken by the US and EU over the past few years have strengthened energy security, our economic security and, I would argue, our national security
He recalled the American side’s promise to replace Russian pipeline gas with liquefied natural gas for the EU. In turn, Ursula von der Leyen thanked the United States for its help in ridding Europe of its energy dependence on Russia.
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Earlier, the head of the US Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Joe Manchin, said that the United States is capable of completely replacing oil and gas from Russia for EU countries. He added that he would like to exclude energy resources from the Russian Federation from world markets, but admitted that each country must make a decision on this issue independently.
Last year, the United States became the world's top LNG exporter for the first time, overtaking Australia and Qatar. Together, these three countries accounted for about 60 percent of the world's supply.
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