OPINION: Some would welcome the revenue and jobs exporting LNG would bring, but others are worried about undermining U.S. energy markets or adding to global warming.
OXFORD, England —With images of Russian aggression and war crimes in Ukraine continuing to dominate the media in Europe and around the world, Germany has pledged to cut its imports of Russian gas by two-thirds by 2023. Even more immediately, Robert Habeck, Germany’s vice chancellor and minister for economic affairs and climate action, now talks of the country reducing its Russian oil imports by half by as early as this June.
Supplies already stretched Even with the 15 bcm of LNG from the U.S., Europe will still require another 140 bcm to replace its gas imports from Russia completely. Those supplies will have to come from a world market that was already stretched thin before Russia invaded Ukraine. And European demand for non-Russian natural gas will add to the pressure on prices for countries that depend on imports – not least China, the world’s largest gas importer.
For others, however, the promotion of gas for export represents an unwanted revival of the hydrocarbon-based economy. The gas exported from the U.S. in the form of LNG will generate greenhouse-gas emissions, adding to a global total that has already returned to prepandemic levels and is still rising.
It will be difficult for President Joe Biden to reconcile these different points of view. His administration’s major legislative initiatives to limit GHG emissions and promote clean energy have stalled in Congress or been reduced in scale and likely impact. The environmental lobby, an important part of the Democratic Party’s voting base, is already expressing disappointment at the lack of progress, amid fears that the Democrats could lose control of Congress in November’s midterm elections.
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