Biden Admin. Climate Policy Puts Adversaries Above U.S. National Interest

Floor Speech

"When President Biden took office, the average approval time for liquefied natural gas (LNG) permits was about seven weeks. Right now, it's about eleven months.

But soon, wait times could actually become irrelevant. At the behest of climate activists, the Administration is now considering adding a "climate test' to the "national interest' analysis regulators conduct before approving new LNG projects.

Nevermind that climate interests all too often run in the exact opposite direction of America's national interests. This move would amount to a functional ban on new LNG export permits.

The Administration's war on affordable domestic energy has been bad news for American workers and consumers alike. Radical policies from the EPA are killing jobs in coal and auto manufacturing. Regulatory nudging is forcing auto makers to produce a supply of electric vehicles for which there is insufficient demand.

And now further limits to LNG exports will only send energy costs higher at a time when the West is trying to reduce its reliance on Russian energy.

This agenda is not just bad for Americans at home, either. It's directly at odds with America's interests on the world stage.

From Russia to Iran to China, it is abundantly clear that our adversaries are not waiting for us to wake up from this experiment in green self-harm.

Russia is building a new export facility for liquefied natural gas that is scheduled to be up and operating as soon as next year. Iran is also in the process of completing an LNG export facility to be ready next year as well.

It should go without saying that increasing global reliance on Russian and Iranian energy is not sound strategy. The Secretary of Energy, herself, has described Russian gas as the "dirtiest form of natural gas on Earth.'

And China, for its part, increased its emissions last year by double the amount U.S. emissions declined.

Our allies in Europe are increasingly relying on us to keep their lights and their heat running. It was LNG exports from the United States that allowed Europe to reduce its reliance on Russian energy in the wake of their attack on Ukraine.

So, if the Biden Administration is foolish enough to shut down our LNG exports or saddle their national interest analysis with Green New Deal schemes, I hope they understand which nations' interests they're advancing.

Choose our nation's interests or blindly follow some green radical scheme to empower our political rivals in China, Iran, and Russia. It's hard to fathom this is even a question the Biden Administration is contemplating."

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