Chevron CEO Mike Wirth delivered a dire warning at Tuesday's Gastech conference in Houston, criticizing the Biden-Harris administration's radical energy policies—specifically the moratorium on new liquefied natural gas export permits. He warned these policies have driven up prices and "undermined energy security" for America's key allies.
Wirth said "attacks on natural gas" and a moratorium on new LNG export permits at terminals along the Gulf Coast had put "politics over progress" and would derail climate efforts, such as the transition from coal to NatGas.
"It raises energy costs by taking potential supply off the market," the CEO of US's second-biggest oil producer said, adding, "It threatens reliable supplies of LNG, undermining energy security for our allies. And it slows the transition from coal to natural gas, meaning more emissions not less."
He continued, "When it comes to advancing economic prosperity, energy security and environmental protection, an LNG permitting pause fails on all three."
In January, the White House halted new licenses to export LNG. At the time, we pointed out to readers that this move by far-left radicals in the Biden-Harris administration, which appeared to punish Texas over the border dispute, was possibly part of a campaign by wealthy donors, including the Rockefeller family - to pressure the government into shifting away from LNG.
Wirth has called out the Biden-Harris admin before for their ridiculous attacks on fossil fuel energy while they claim a climate crisis will doom the planet unless more solar panels and windmills are installed on the grid.
In 2022, the executive told Bloomberg TV in an interview that the last refinery built in the US was in the 1970s. He said, "My personal view is there will never be another new refinery built in the United States."
The good news in July is that a federal court overturned the LNG permit export moratorium. However, since the ruling, no licenses have been issued amid uproar industry-wide over disastrous green policies pushed by the White House.
Wirth said: "Instead of imposing a moratorium on LNG exports, the administration should stop the attacks on natural gas."
Domestically, the unprecedented strain on the US power grid is beginning to materialize due to electrification trends, including power-hungry AI data and EVs. Regional grids nationwide are winding down fossil fuel power generation with unreliable solar and wind, yet any new nuclear power development (the ultimate clean energy power source) could take years and or decades to come online.
He indicated that switching from coal to gas could be "the single greatest carbon reduction initiative in history."
Yet, there is no compromise with climate activists in the federal government. It's unreliable green energy or nothing.