Who could have seen THIS coming? Turns out, just about everyone—except Germany, and maybe some in the European Union.
Even the man most of Europe loved to hate, President Trump, saw it coming and leaned on German Chancellor Angela Merkel to abandon Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
The Nord Stream 2 will make Europe even more dependent on Russian natural gas than it currently is—and it’s already the dominant supplier.
Take this CNBC headline from August, “Russia is pumping a lot less natural gas to Europe all of a sudden—and it isn’t clear why.”
But who’s “not clear”? Russia uses access to its fossil fuels as leverage to nudge (compel?) its natural gas customers—most of Europe—to support, or at least not aggressively oppose, its political mischief.
And apparently Merkel is aware of that possibility, as CNBC explains: “It comes shortly after German Chancellor Angela Merkel sought to ease long-running concerns about the nearly completed Nord Stream 2 pipeline, saying further sanctions may be imposed if Moscow used gas ‘as a weapon.’”
“If”?
Of course, Russia doesn’t have to cut off natural gas deliveries, or even significantly reduce them, to make its point. Slight supply reductions can raise natural gas prices, forcing EU members to pay very high prices for electricity.
And that’s already happening, roiling EU politics.
Fortunately, President Biden, strategic visionary that he is, recognized the economic and national security implications of Russia’s ability to shut down natural gas shipments during a very cold European winter. And so he quickly moved to ensure natural gas producers in the U.S. have the freedom and flexibility they need to rapidly expand production to help our European allies. Oh, wait…
“President Joe Biden has followed through on a campaign pledge by introducing a moratorium on new oil and gas leasing on federal lands and waters. With nearly 25 percent of U.S. oil and gas production coming from federal lands, the policy shift may have significant implications for future investment and production,” according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
It’s hard to avoid the conclusion that the only one more shortsighted than Merkel and the EU for doubling down on their Russian natural gas dependence is Biden for doubling down on his goal of eliminating the fossil fuel industry.
September 21, 2021