War in Ukraine Shows Why World Needs U.S. Energy Dominance
Mike Pompeo
FoxNews.com
March 30, 2022
As the Russian war against Ukraine rages on, the Biden administration continues to respond with confusion and weakness. Central to President Biden’s failures throughout this crisis and before it has been his administration’s hostility to American energy.
…
During his recent address to our European allies in Poland, Biden stated, “we have to stay fully, totally, thoroughly united.” Unity without direction, though, is not worth much when it comes to deterring our adversaries.
…
Deterrence only works when our enemies know our mettle and believe our capabilities can pose a credible risk to their plans or objectives. And in fact, Biden’s recent remarks on the relationship of sanctions and deterrence makes one wonder if he comprehends the concept. This is why the Trump administration sought to make our alliances stronger. We called for our NATO allies to meet their spending commitments and actually made real progress toward this goal.
…
Critically, we also ensured our allies were not dependent on Russian energy. We sanctioned and stopped the completion of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, and by establishing American energy independence and dominance, we were able to ship the world’s cleanest fossil fuels to our partners cheaply and efficiently. As secretary of state, I know that it took an effective combination of diplomacy, tough negotiations, and unleashing our own energy industry to bring about this goal. Energy dominance gave America enormous power and was an essential tool in our diplomatic efforts. Nearly every discussion I had with presidents, prime ministers and foreign ministers involved American energy.
…
President Biden is only now waking up to the wisdom of the Trump administration’s policies in Europe: It took a war to shake him from his slumber.
…
Driven by progressive activists screeching about climate change, President Biden’s administration has been hostile to American oil, natural gas, coal and nuclear power from Day One. If not for the enactment of policies that hampered these vital sectors of our economy, both the United States and Europe would have been in a much better position strategically and might have deterred Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine.
…
Inflation and high energy prices at home are crushing all Americans. Soaring costs for fertilizer and fuel are devastating American farmers, and the rising cost to fill up at the gas station are a literal tax increase on American families. Revitalizing our energy industry would alleviate these burdens quickly, and it can be done because it’s exactly what we did in the Trump administration.
…
We must unleash the power of American energy; we must redouble our efforts to export clean energy, including liquified natural gas and clean coal, to our allies in Europe and in the Indo-Pacific.
If President Biden is unwilling to do this, if he is unwilling to lead our country rather than listen to the singularly focused climate activists who are currently driving the White House’s failed policies, then we should ensure his administration is redirected by Republican acumen: by our winning big in the upcoming midterm elections, reversing his green-obsessed energy policy, and getting back to American energy dominance.
Read the full op-ed HERE