Trump Urges Europe to Reject Climate Pessimism
Taking the stage after a speech by Extinction Rebellion activist Greta Thunberg, Trump highlighted U.S. achievements in the economic and energy spheres and warned against “predictions of the apocalypse.” He also alluded to concerns about European dependence on Russian gas imports via the contentious Nord Stream 2 pipeline, construction of which has been held up by U.S. sanctions, and said LNG imports could help solve Europe’s energy issues.
Trump noted that U.S. natural gas supplies were becoming increasingly available thanks to the energy revolution brought about by shale production. “While many European countries struggle with crippling energy costs, the American energy revolution is saving American families $2500 every year in lower electricity bills…and also very importantly prices at the pump. The U.S. no longer needs to import energy. With an abundance of American natural gas now available, our European allies no longer have to be vulnerable to unfriendly energy suppliers either.”
He urged Europe to access vast U.S. energy supplies and achieve energy security. “With U.S. companies and researchers leading the way we are on the threshold of virtually unlimited reserves of energy, including from traditional fuels—LNG, clean coal, next-generation nuclear power, and gas hydrate technologies.”
Referring to rising concern about carbon emissions and climate change, Trump said innovation and technology could overcome all challenges, while also taking an apparent swipe at some of his political rivals in the U.S. with a mention of “radical socialists” out to destroy the economy. “To embrace the possibilities of tomorrow we must reject the perennial prophets of doom and their predictions of the apocalypse…the heirs of yesterday’s foolish fortune-tellers. We understand what the pessimists refuse to see, that a growing and vibrant market economy focused on the future lifts the human spirit and excites creativity strong enough to overcome any challenge by far. We continue to embrace technology, not shun it.” He went on to say that the U.S. would join the World Economic Forum plan to plant one trillion trees.
The comments contrasted starkly with those of Thunberg, who told the forum time was running out to restrict global average temperature increases to 1.5°C, and that people were already dying as a result of climate change. The world could only afford to emit CO2 at current levels for another eight years if temperature increases are to be kept within 1.5°C, Thunberg said, adding that “every fraction of a degree matters.”
S&P Global Platts comments that since U.S. LNG exports from the U.S. Lower 48 began in February 2016, Europe has received 28.3 billion cu meters (Bcm) of gas equivalent. Volumes have risen quickly over the past year thanks to the increase in U.S. export capacity and Europe playing the role of market of last resort for surplus cargos—in an oversupplied global market.
In 2019, U.S. LNG exports to Europe totaled 20.3 Bcm of gas equivalent, up from 4.7 Bcm the previous year. That means U.S. LNG exports to Europe are now on a par with Europe’s pipeline imports from Algeria, which totaled 21 Bcm in 2019. The main markets for U.S. LNG since February 2016 have been Spain and the United Kingdom, which have imported 6.04 Bcm and 4.98 Bcm, respectively, to date. Both countries are easily reached from the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and have plenty of LNG import capacity. The other main importers to date have been France, with 3.82 Bcm, Turkey 2.68 Bcm, Italy 2.71 Bcm, Portugal 2.66 Bcm, and the Netherlands 2.43 Bcm, with smaller volumes landing in Belgium, Greece, Lithuania, Malta, and Poland.
(SOURCE: The Weekly Propane Newsletter, February 17, 2020. Available only by subscription)
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