Sen. Manchin Says Biden Should Be Open-Minded About Energy Policy

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said the Biden administration should be more "open-minded" in its energy policy response to the war in Ukraine and should approve pipeline infrastructure more quickly to grow U.S. gas output and help European allies.

"The president has to be open-minded. His team has to be open-minded," Manchin said during a meeting of gas industry executives and European allies, hosted by gas industry nonprofit LNG Allies. "You've got to find that centrist, that middle. You don't run your life and you don't run your companies from extremes. It just doesn't work," Manchin said, reported The Washington Examiner.

"We have a lot of good, quality legislators in Congress here that are aspirational," Manchin said, later mentioning his disagreements with Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. "I just always said you can't be the superpower of the world if you [don't] have your own energy independence."

The Department of Energy authorized additional liquefied natural gas (LNG) volumes to be shipped from two Gulf Coast facilities in March, but critical lawmakers have said the administration is moving too slowly.

Germany, meanwhile, has "missed the boat" on LNG, Manchin said, and is paying for it with worries about short-term cutoffs of Russian gas, on which it has been dependent, as have European allies.

Germany wants to accelerate the development of its first LNG import terminals as the country looks to reduce its dependence on Russian oil and gas. After the decision not to certify the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, Germany has been moving to close coal and fossil fuel energy plants and is taking steps to support two planned projects for the country’s first LNG import terminals, reported The Maritime Executive.

LNG is produced by super-cooling natural gas to minus-260 degrees Fahrenheit until it turns into a liquid. It is in great global demand for export, particularly by European buyers who are looking to displace Russian natural gas in the aftermath of the Ukraine invasion.

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