Under the deal, unveiled on Friday, the United States will supply an additional 15 billion cubic meters of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the European Union this year. This represents about one-tenth of the gas the EU now receives from Russia, which provides 40% of the bloc’s total gas supply. Increased US gas exports will escalate further, with the EU aiming to receive 50 billion cubic meters of gas a year from the United States and other countries to reduce its dependence on Russia after its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Joe Biden, who announced the deal during a trip to Brussels, said the increased offer would ensure “families in Europe can spend this winter” and would also prevent Vladimir Putin, who used the gas revenue to “drive his war machine”. But environmental groups have reacted with concern to the deal, saying it would help integrate years of future gas use at a time when scientists say the world must quickly end its use of fossil fuels to prevent catastrophic climate change. “We need to move quickly to affordable clean energy, not doubling fossil fuels,” said Kelly Sheehan, senior campaign manager at the Sierra Club. “Reducing our dependence on fossil fuels is the only way to stop being vulnerable to the whims of greedy industries and geopolitics.” The United States has become a net exporter of energy in recent years, with fracking technology helping to exploit its vast gas reserves. When frozen in LNG, this gas can be loaded on ships and exported worldwide. USA. they are already operating at almost full capacity for the amount they are able to ship. However, there are 16 proposed LNG terminals along the US Gulf Coast that have already been granted the necessary federal permits to proceed with construction. An agreement with the EU could make these projects, which will take several years to build and operate, possibly for decades to come, seem more sustainable than in the past. “The expansion of new and expanded gas extraction facilities will lock in decades of dependence on hazardous, volatile fossil fuels and disasters for our climate and the already troubled Gulf Coast communities,” Sheehan said. Biden insisted the plan would not jeopardize its climate goals, arguing that the war in Ukraine would act as a “catalyst” for the development of renewable energy sources. The US and the EU have pledged to work together to push for approvals for solar and wind projects, block leaks from methane-fired gas pipelines, a powerful greenhouse gas into the atmosphere, and work on energy efficiency measures that will reduce demand. fossil fuels. But climate activists warn that time is running out to avoid catastrophic global warming. The International Energy Agency has said that no new fossil fuel infrastructure can be built around the world if the planet wants to avoid heating 1.5 C above the pre-industrial era, a point beyond which scientists say it will dramatically increase dangerous heat waves, floods, droughts, fires and movement of people. “Boosting new toxic extraction plants and decades of methane gas is a death sentence for those at the forefront of the climate emergency and will not solve Europe’s current crisis,” said Kassie Siegel, director of the Center for Climate Law at the Center for Biological Studies. . . “Approving more terminals for exports, pipelines and fossil fuel production only adds fuel to the fire of our burning world.”
