Days before Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inexcusable invasion of Ukraine began, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry expressed hope that “President Putin will help us to stay on track with respect to what we need to do for the climate.”
The naivete of thinking that Putin cares about climate change is astounding. But what’s even more incredible is that if the United States were to follow President Joe Biden’s prescription for the environment, we would in fact be strengthening Russia — just as Germany has done.
Germany boasts Europe’s richest economy, but its shortsighted plan to transform the power sector in the name of fighting climate change has made it shockingly reliant on Russian gas to keep the lights on. As a result, Germany hesitated prior to this invasion to criticize Putin’s bloodthirsty regime, for fear of losing access to energy. The U.S. should not follow the advice of Democrats calling for similar policies.
Thankfully, Republicans’ approach will strengthen our national security and energy security while also providing environmental benefits.
Germany’s energiewende, “energy transition,” was announced in 2011 and turned belief in renewable energy’s omnipotence into a dogma. Angela Merkel, chancellor at the time, declared the nation would shut down all 17 of its nuclear power plants.
In 2011, Germany had 17 nuclear plants. The three plants left standing will all be closed this year. Germany added more wind and solar power, but that wasn’t enough. As the number of nuclear plants inside its borders shrank, imports of Russian natural gas swelled. Nearly 70% of Germany’s natural gas imports come from Russia.
Because of misguided policies that failed to meet their own climate goals, one of the world’s richest countries has made itself dangerously reliant on an authoritarian regime for energy. Last week, Germany finally announced that it would suspend the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm has said is carrying the “dirtiest form of natural gas on Earth.” While this decision should be celebrated, it is too little, too late. This same script can’t play out in the U.S.
Some on the Left are calling for emulating the energiewende. Democratic-controlled states have already started shutting down their nuclear plants, limiting access to American natural gas, and relying on imported Russian fuels.
The Biden administration is also imperiling our energy security. It has shut down the Keystone XL pipeline and made domestic oil and gas production harder. Then, when energy prices rose, he resorted to begging OPEC countries to produce more oil. Democratic senators have gone so far as to call for curbing U.S. liquefied natural gas exports.
None of these moves make sense for our economy or the environment, but they do embolden Russia.
Energy security and national security are inextricably linked. We should make domestic energy production easier and increase it. We should accelerate the approval of export LNG terminals and help our European allies wean off of Russian gas. Instead of closing our nuclear plants, like Germany, we should update the permitting process to facilitate the development and deployment of innovative small modular reactors. Finally, we should realize that renewable energy is an important part of the solution, but it is not the only solution.
House Republicans such as Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Reps. John Curtis and Garret Graves, and others are championing this conservative approach.
To those on the Left who balk at the idea of exporting more U.S. LNG, I question their commitment to fighting climate change. Russian natural gas exports to Europe emit over 40% more than U.S. LNG exports there. If U.S. LNG exports decrease, that doesn’t mean the world suddenly needs less gas. It just means dirtier fuels will meet that demand, increasing global emissions and energy insecurity in the process.
An overreliance on renewables and an irrational rejection of nuclear power created a nightmare in Germany, and some Democrats want to import that disaster. Rejecting these policies is the only way we can guarantee our energy security and ensure that the next generation can live the American dream.
Quill Robinson is the vice president of government affairs at the American Conservation Coalition. He lived in Germany for a year as a part of the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals. Follow him on Twitter @QuillRobinson.
