Biden Puts Climate Ideology Over People, Lasee Asserts

Once again, U.S. President Joe Biden is prioritizing his climate agenda over the well-being of everyday Americans.

By nixing (Liquified Natural Gas) LNG export expansions, Biden is only hurting Americans and our allies and playing right into the hands of Russia, China, and Iran.

Biden’s decision to limit our future contribution to the international natural gas supply will cause price increases for the U.S.’s allies and increase Europe’s dependence on unfriendly countries.

According to Michael Stoppard, global gas strategy lead at data provider S&P Global Commodity Insights, the global LNG demand is expected to grow “from 399 million tons in 2022 to 627 million tons by 2035, more than a 50% increase.”

The anticipated 228-million-ton increase in LNG demand over the next 11 years will be met by other countries or other fuels in response to Biden’s decision to deny permits to 10 LNG export projects.  

The construction of just one LNG terminal, which costs between $13 and $16 billion, will create 6,400 jobs for construction workers and 400 permanent high-paying jobs.

If all the proposed LNG terminals were built, it would amount to an expenditure of $130 to $160 billion, creating over 60,000 temporary high-paying construction jobs —  many of them union — and 4,000 permanent jobs.

Due to Biden’s decision, the U.S. will lose out on these economic benefits and tax revenue. Worse yet, Russia, Iran, and China — the next biggest producers of natural gas — will take the opportunity to meet this growing demand.

They will get the economic benefits instead of Americans, and it will not mean a thing for the future climate.

Russia, second only to the United States in natural gas exports, still provides 26% of Europe’s supply.

Europe’s natural gas purchases provide Russia with an extortion tool and enable its continuing invasion of Ukraine.

Biden’s refusal to expand LNG exports in pursuit of his climate agenda only weakens America while strengthening its adversaries.

His actions beg these questions:

• Why?
• If other nations will meet the need, what good will Biden’s export expansion ban accomplish?

In 2018, Yale University climate economist William Nordhaus received the Nobel Prize in economics for his studies showing how we should shoot for a temperature change of 6.75°F (3.75°C) that minimizes the cost of climate change and the cost of climate policy to $20 trillion instead of more than $400 trillion.

This would entail a cost of about $1.2 million for every American or nearly $5 million for a family of four! Ending natural gas usage is not one of his suggestions.

Professor Nordhaus’s recommendation for acceptable temperature is far higher than the 2.7°F (1.5°C) that climate propagandists say will trigger a doomsday scenario. The propagandists’ 50 years of doom predictions have been wrong.  

Moreover, NASA reports a 35% greener world since 1985, with 70% credited to rising CO2 levels. Forests the size of Texas have regrown since 2000, and global crop yields are up in nearly every country. In addition to increased CO2 levels, fertilizers made with natural gas feed half the world’s population. People are better fed and famine deaths are on the decline.    

The western climate cult wages war on fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas.

These fossil fuels provide us with 80% of the energy we need for civilization to exist.

This is not wise.

Fossil fuels are in electric and gas cars, planes, trains, computers, cell phones, and everything we touch or consume.

Consequently, Biden’s choice to prioritize his climate agenda over people by holding back U.S. natural gas and halting LNG projects harms our nation and families in many ways.

It hurts hardworking families by taking away job opportunities from union members, harms America’s energy security, and leaves us and our allies vulnerable to stronger adversaries.

Simply put, Biden’s decisions weaken us and strengthen them. 

Frank Lasee is a former Wisconsin state senator and former member of Republican Governor Scott Walker’s administration. The district he represented had two nuclear power plants, a biomass plant and numerous wind towers. He has experience dealing with energy, the environment, and the climate. Frank is now President of Truth in Energy and Climate. Read more at Truthinenergyandclimate.com.