Pelican State News

Energy security isn’t just about keeping the lights on; it’s about preserving America’s sovereignty and strength on the world stage. An opinion piece by retired US Army Colonel Joe Buccino clearly points out that natural gas fuels national power and global stability.

American natural gas provides Affordable, Reliable, and Clean Energy Security that improves the environment while keeping us secure and independent. Of course, former President Joe Biden's LNG pause forced Europe to repurchase more Russian gas, which doesn't make the world safer.

But the Trump administration wasted no time unleashing America’s energy potential. The U.S. Energy Department authorized Venture Global to export LNG from their CP2 facility, a $28 billion project currently under construction. This marked the fifth export approval issued by the Department of Energy. These will create American jobs and deliver U.S. LNG directly to our allies across Europe and Asia, starved for reliable alternatives to hostile suppliers.

The facilities aren’t merely industrial assets. They’re strategic pillars that strengthen America’s energy security, enhance geopolitical leverage, and expand our foreign policy options. This decisive action starkly contrasts the Biden administration’s misguided freeze on new LNG export permits. His Energy Department clung to the flawed premise that LNG exports would inflate domestic prices, even commissioning a politically timed study released after burying their 2023 study on LNG exports. This approach prioritized short-term political calculations over America’s long-term strategic interests.

Expanding LNG exports creates robust markets for American producers, driving innovation and investment across the entire energy sector. Energy dominance also strengthens America and supports its allies.

More than three decades ago, Congress launched the U.S. Global Change Research Program initiative. Today, it spends $5 billion a year empowering liberal climate scientists to spread climate change doom. 

The reports this group generates help direct climate policy at all levels of government, unfortunately, toward liberal climate change goals. The work is primarily outsourced to a group called ICF, a massive government contractor that has an active contract to work on the report.

One would expect a government agency researching to be unbiased, use real science, and not skew the results in any political direction. You'd be mistaken in this case. This is a case of pushing climate extremism and our tax dollars paying for all of it. How much, you ask?

The contract was first announced in June 2021 and described as a $34 million, five-year contract to help with the National Climate Assessments. Only $18 million has been paid out, according to the government spending database. The additional $16 million could be disbursed in the next year. 

ICF is an incredibly partisan firm. Its website boasts about its “corporate citizenship,” “culture and belonging,” and “environmental justice.” 

That's the bad news. Here is the good news:

Russell Vought, who runs the powerful Office of Management and Budget, wants to exert more oversight over the next climate assessment and make deep cuts to “woke and weaponized” spending. 

This is a great place to start. He also wants to investigate the political leanings of the contractors that assemble the report. Even better, perhaps the Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE) needs to look into this initiative and determine if it's worthwhile.

Unnamed and biased government consultants shouldn’t be paid millions to chart the nation’s climate policy. We need honest assessments and objective reports, not blatant climate activism paid for by taxpayer dollars.

The Empowerment Alliance (TEA) is a 501(c)(4) organization founded in 2019 that advocates for U.S. energy independence, according to EmpoweringAmerica.org. TEA supports using American innovation and free-market principles to ensure affordable, reliable, and clean energy.