One of Russia’s critical pieces of leverage is energy. Europe is dependent on Putin. Trump’s energy policy had begun to kneecap that advantage, but Biden has done everything in his power to give Russia the upper hand.
Russia already has enormous leverage. It is January and it is cold. Europeans are now facing shortages of natural gas, as Russia reduced its exports to Europe by more than 41 percent from the level of January 2021. It’s not that Russia can’t deliver more; it just chooses not to.
Biden’s domestic energy policy has taken the US from an independent exporter to energy-dependence. It negatively impacts American jobs, the price of everything, mobility, industry, and diplomacy. And our enemies are enriched and emboldened, including Russia. But Biden isn’t don’t. He just pulled US support for the EastMed pipeline, which would have delivered Natural Gas from Israel to Europe and significantly reduced Putin’s influence.
As we reported two years ago, Israel is now a natural gas superpower. Israel’s massive Tamar Offshore Natural Gas field online, which “holds an estimated 8.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The EastMed would have carried some of that across Cyprus up into Greece, giving Europe another energy lifeline.
A clean, low carbon lifeline that would help take Putin’s boot off Europe’s neck.
Joe Biden just yanked American Support.
Related: Joe Biden’s America Is Buying Three Times as Much Oil from Russia and At Higher Prices
Was that Putin’s price to say he’d stay out of Ukraine? Whoever is Running the Biden Administration claims it is about saving the planet.
Amos Hochstein, now Biden’s senior advisor for energy security, has said he would be “extremely uncomfortable with the U.S. supporting” EastMed because of its environmental implications. “Why would we build a fossil fuel pipeline between the EastMed and Europe when our entire policy is to support new technology…and new investments in going green and in going clean?”
Saving it for who?
China has been building dirty coal plans as fast as possible to feed its massive military-industrial complex. It is the largest polluter on the planet, from ocean plastic to CO2 to industrial waste and poor air quality. Russia has no interest in green politics except when it hobbles its adversaries.
In other words, while two of the biggest threats to world peace and democracy embrace expansionist policy and a burn everything manufacturing posture, Joe Fing Biden is making it as difficult as possible for America and its allies to keep the lights on.
Biden’s America is buying three times as much oil from Putin and paying more for it. And backing out of the EastMed pipeline helps Russia more than anyone as Russia appears poised to invade a sovereign neighbor it claims belongs to Russia.
And it still can invade after Biden scuttled US involvement in EastMed. Russia can’t lose.
And thanks to Biden, America loses, Europe loses, a mutual coalition of Middle Eastern interests, some of whom are supposed to be US allies lose, and the green energy future loses.
There is no transition to anything new without several decades’ worth of natural gas power as a backup. So, this has got nothing to do with green energy and everything to do with green in someone’s pocket.
Joe and his family have a history of benefiting financially from that sort of thing while in elected office. We need to consider that as well.
