OPINION:
Often overlooked in the climate debate is energy poverty—which means people not having enough energy for their daily needs or where the cost of energy negatively affects their daily lives. The most vocal climate activists include the European countries participating in the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 28) and America’s own John Kerry, Joe Biden‘s climate envoy. These elitist, aristocratic viewpoints advocate policies that wage war on reliable, affordable energy and fail to address global energy poverty.
Author Alex Epstein notes in Fossil Future that more than 3 billion people - nearly half of all people on Earth - use hardly any energy or electricity. He calls them the “unempowered world,” and it’s known that the average person in this category uses less electricity in a year than a typical American refrigerator.
Instead of seeking to lift the fortunes of those in need, opponents of fossil fuel use are seemingly driven by a desire to drag the world down to the energy-use levels of the unempowered. They ignore the obvious benefits of using fossil fuels, such as longer, richer lives, and promote expensive, unrealistic, and unachievable energy policies—crying bitterly when they don’t get their way at COP28.
The Biden administration is in lockstep with these activists. Since the start of his term, the President has:
Killed the Keystone pipeline
Proposed unnecessary Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) “climate disclosure” mandates
Eviscerated offshore development in the Gulf of Mexico by proposing the fewest lease sales in history in his 5-year plan which means decreased revenue for Gulf states and Land and Water Conservation Funds to protect American land from development
Advanced a Bureau of Land Management rule to end drilling on federal land
Canceled leases in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge
Slashed access to the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska after it drained the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in Texas and Louisiana
And demanded blind adherence to harmful “Green New Deal” policies.
This administration and the United Nations are intent on forcing similarly egregious policies in developing countries that will restrict their ability to take advantage of the benefits of reliable energy sources, thereby promoting more human suffering. Empty slogans like “net zero” and “decarbonization” are buzzwords for policies that result in high inflation, less economic growth, and perpetuation of global energy poverty.
In recent years, America emerged as the top producer of oil and natural gas. Record high production has offset OPEC’s cuts. American companies have become top exporters that help to stabilize chaotic world markets and provide global energy security as wars rage in or near two major energy-producing regions of the world. U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) has been a lifeline for our allies in Europe, following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, as well as our allies in Asia and other parts of the world.
America has been blessed with an abundance of energy resources. Oil and gas producers in the U.S. work daily to make energy clean, reliable, and affordable for Americans and people in the unempowered world. The Biden administration’s January decision to ban new permits for LNG export facilities will raise costs in the U.S. and prevent us from supplying our allies and those in the developing world.
Americans should take pride in our collective work to alleviate extreme global poverty over the last three decades. We’ve helped with public and private financing, foreign and food aid, and affordable fertilizers, all made possible by a reliable supply of natural gas.
As the demand for these resources grows at home and abroad, the need for reliable supplies becomes more important. The developing world has an estimated 745 million people with zero access to electricity, according to the International Energy Agency. Recent data from the World Health Organization shows that 2.3 billion people worldwide still cook using open fires that burn kerosene, biomass, wood, crop waste, and even animal dung. These energy sources generate more harmful household air pollution than sources like natural gas, causing more than 3 million deaths per year from respiratory illness.
For the billions in the unempowered world, Joe Biden‘s LNG ban is a backward step that America should not take, and Congress should do everything to stop this effort. An LNG ban undermines world health and disrupts successful efforts to combat energy poverty.
As the world’s population increases between now and 2050, developing nations will need more energy, not less. The only realistic path toward addressing global energy poverty is for America to produce more, not less, crude oil and natural gas. American LNG exports will play a critical role in easing energy poverty for decades to come. America is ready to meet those needs while ensuring affordable energy resources for Americans.
• U.S Representative Jeff Duncan, South Carolina Republican, serves as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security of House Energy and Commerce. He represents the state’s Third Congressional District and has received awards including the Freedom Fighter Award, Friend of the Farm Bureau, National Security Patriot Award, Guardian of Small Business, Hero of Main Street, Taxpayer’s Hero, and the prestigious Order of the Palmetto awarded by the Governor of South Carolina.
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