Posted on 07/20/2022 7:42:42 AM PDT by Jewbacca
The Biden administration has abruptly withdrawn American support for the Eastern Mediterranean (EastMed) pipeline, a project aimed at shipping natural gas from Israel to European markets. The White House said the project was antithetical to its "climate goals."
In reaching its decision, which effectively kills EastMed, the White House appears to have caved to pressure from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has vociferously opposed the underwater pipeline because it would bypass Turkey.
Biden's decision — reportedly coordinated with Turkey but reached without consulting Israel, Greece or Cyprus, the main countries involved in the project — undercuts three of the strongest American allies in the Mediterranean region.
The White House could not have chosen a less opportune moment to announce its decision. With tensions rising between Russia and Ukraine, Europe (which relies on Russia for approximately one-third of its natural gas supplies) is searching for alternative sources of gas to reduce its overreliance on Moscow.
The Biden administration's decision also smacks of hypocrisy. The White House claims that it wants the Mediterranean region to transition to "clean energy," but it recently announced its support for the Russia-backed Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which would double shipments of Russian natural gas to Germany.
EastMed's cancellation — variously described as a "disastrous decision," a "strategic mistake" and an act of "appeasement" of Erdoğan — represents a major geopolitical victory for the Turkish strongman. Analysts worry that he will be emboldened to continue escalating tensions in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean in his quest to expand Turkish control over energy supply routes to Europe. EastMed Pipeline
The EastMed pipeline has been in the works for more than a decade. The Israel-Greece-Cyprus project — joined by Bulgaria, Hungary, North Macedonia, Romania and Serbia — has long been seen as a way to diversify natural gas supplies to Europe.
The 6-billion-euro ($6.8 billion) project envisages the construction of a 1,900-kilometer (1,180-mile) undersea pipeline that would carry up to 20 billion cubic meters of gas annually from Israeli and Cypriot waters to Crete and then on to the Greek mainland. From there, the gas would be transported to Italy and other countries in southeastern Europe. In January 2020, the leaders of Israel, Greece and Cyprus — with strong support from the Trump administration — signed the EastMed intergovernmental agreement, which aimed at reaching a final investment decision by 2022 and completing the pipeline by 2025. The EastMed project could eventually have supplied up to 10% of Europe's natural gas needs.
At the time, then U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said:
"We are free countries, free-market countries, working together and working to create energy infrastructures. This is when better security follows. If we do it properly, we will attract investment and maximize these resources."
In November 2021, the European Commission (the administrative arm of the European Union) included the EastMed pipeline in its list of so-called Projects of Common Interest (PCI), priority cross-border energy projects aimed at integrating the EU's energy infrastructure.
On January 9, 2022, in a sharp reversal of previous U.S. policy, the Biden administration announced that it no longer supports EastMed. Rather than delivering the news in person, as diplomatic protocol would require on an issue of such regional importance, the U.S. State Department quietly emailed the Greek government a so-called non-paper (unofficial diplomatic correspondence that lacks direct attribution) which described the EastMed project as a "primary source of tension" that was "destabilizing" the region by pitting Israel, Greece and Cyprus against Turkey. The Biden administration appears to have lost its nerve after the Turkish Navy recently harassed the Italian-operated survey ship Nautical Geo while it was charting a potential route for EastMed in Greek waters off the coast of Crete. Turkey claimed that Nautical Geo was engaging in "unlawful, aggressive and provocative" infringement of Turkish-claimed waters.
The Turkish government has always insisted that Israeli gas can only be sold to Europe through Turkey. In 2016, Turkish and Israeli officials tried to sign a deal to deliver gas, but Erdoğan's demand that Israel lift its blockade on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip made it impossible to reach an agreement.
The Greek public broadcaster ERT reported that the Biden administration's non-paper downplayed Turkey's objections to the pipeline as the reason for the White House's decision. Instead, the document specified environmental concerns and a supposed lack of economic and commercial viability.
After the contents of the non-paper generated anger in Greece, the U.S. State Department engaged in damage control and cited climate change as the basis for its decision. It said that it was committed to "promote clean energy technologies" and that priority should be given to interconnecting the electricity grids of countries in the region.
Greek defense analyst Theofrastos Andreopoulos wrote that Biden's decision was a triumph for Turkey and a defeat for Greece: "In short, this means that Turkey, which supposedly was falling into disfavor with the Americans, got exactly what it wanted: the cancellation of the pipeline.
"The most important parameter in the non-paper justifying the U.S. position, beyond the economic and commercial elements, points out that this pipeline is a source of tension in the Eastern Mediterranean — clearly taking the position of Turkey!
"That is, the Americans do not want the pipeline because Ankara might 'get angry.'"
Erdoğan, the Turkish president, hailed Biden's U-turn as a victory. "If Israeli gas is to be brought to Europe, it can only be done through Turkey," Erdoğan said. "We can sit down and talk terms." Israel versus Turkey
The demise of the EastMed pipeline project appears to be — in large measure — the handiwork of Amos Hochstein, a political operator in the American Democratic Party and an acolyte of Hillary Clinton, John Kerry and former U.S. President Barack Obama. Hochstein, a confidant of U.S. President Joe Biden, currently serves as Senior Advisor for Energy Security at the U.S. Department of State.
In January 2022, Turkish state television channel TRT aired a documentary — "The Pipe Dream" (Part 1 and Part 2) — in which Hochstein repeatedly criticized the EastMed pipeline because it excludes Turkey. He also decried the Trump administration's support of the project: "I don't see the need for the United States to come in and support this project. This is a project that probably should not happen because it's too complicated, too expensive, and too late in the arc of history.
"Today in the Biden administration I would be extremely uncomfortable with the United States supporting this project. Why would we build a fossil fuel pipeline between the East Med and Europe at a time when our entire policy is to support new technology, new developments, and new investments in going green and going cleaner?
"So, by the time this pipeline is built, we will have spent billions of dollars of taxpayer money, probably, on something that is obsolete. And not only obsolete but against our collective interest between the United States and Europe."
Hochstein's comments reek of hypocrisy: he has long been a proponent of fossil fuels. In 2017, during a speech to the GE Oil and Gas Annual Meeting, Hochstein praised fossil fuels as creating "so much job growth and economic prosperity in the United States and around the world." He added that natural gas "will continue to be the backbone of a cleaner energy future." That same year, Hochstein joined the supervisory board of Naftogaz, the largest state-owned gas and oil company in Ukraine.
In 2019, Hochstein warned against bans on drilling for oil and bans on exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG). In 2020, he described climate change activists as being "emotional." He added: "I truly believe that natural gas is going to play a far greater role in the [green energy] transition." Hochstein also disparaged the idea of keeping fossil fuels in the ground:
"We are past the conversation of the last few years where transition was going to be immediate. 'We're just keeping it all in the ground and going to go to all renewables.' That is not going to happen. We're going to have the oil and gas industry here to stay for several decades, and the renewable industry is going to grow by leaps and bounds. That we all know."
In July 2021, the Biden administration approved completion of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which would double shipments of Russian natural gas to Germany by transporting the gas under the Baltic Sea. Biden's decision abruptly reversed a long-standing bipartisan policy consensus. Both the Obama and Trump administrations opposed Nord Stream 2 on the grounds that, once completed, it would strengthen Russian President Vladimir Putin's economic and political influence over Europe. Hochstein — known in Europe as "Biden's guy" — initially opposed Nord Stream 2 but then reversed course and agreed to ensure that the pipeline would be completed.
Biden's U-turn angered the leaders of many countries in Eastern and Western Europe. They argued that it will effectively give Moscow a stranglehold over European gas supplies and open the continent to Russian blackmail.Meanwhile, U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to Europe have reached record levels. The Biden administration has also held talks with several international energy companies on contingency plans for supplying natural gas to Europe if the conflict between Russia and Ukraine disrupts Russian supplies. The White House suddenly appears to have jettisoned its concerns over "climate goals."
Hochstein's claim that EastMed is not commercially viable is also in dispute. A 2019 feasibility study financed by the European Union confirmed that "the EastMed Project is technically feasible, economically viable and commercially competitive."
Endy Zemenides, Executive Director of the Hellenic American Leadership Council, in a podcast with Kathimerini, a daily political and financial newspaper published in Athens, noted that the Biden administration's assertion that EastMed's is not commercially viable is not for the White House to decide: "If you read the non-paper itself, there are so many conflicting and unnecessary rationales. Given our renewable energy policies, our climate goals, that's fine, this is the policy we are taking. But then they went on with commercial viability. Two comments on that: It's not their decision. If somebody steps up and pays for it, that makes it commercially viable. Nobody was asking the U.S. State Department or the USA. Second. They were supposed to give a report to Congress about commercial viability. Frankly, it sounds like they [the Biden administration] wanted to head off any further studies about commercial viability. This was aimed in part to the European Union, which has been funding feasibility studies. So, you read this, and this is truly a case of the cover-up being worse than the crime. This was not handled well at all."
Richard Goldberg, a member of the U.S. National Security Council during the Trump administration, expressed bafflement at the Biden administration's decision to withdraw support from EastMed: Meanwhile, NATO is studying the possibility of building a new pipeline across Spain that would transport natural gas from Algeria to France and Germany.
Is the Biden administration truly concerned about climate change, or does it want to prevent Israel from becoming a strategically important supplier of natural gas to Europe? Turkish Opposition
Turkey has challenged the EastMed project by attempting to expand its claims over gas-rich areas of the Mediterranean Sea.
In November 2019, Turkey and Libya reached a bilateral agreement on maritime boundaries in the southeastern Mediterranean Sea. The deal, signed by Erdoğan and the UN-backed leader of Libya, Fayez al-Sarraj, attempted to redraw existing sea boundaries so that Libya ostensibly can claim exclusive rights over 39,000 square kilometers of maritime waters that belong to Greece. The bilateral agreement — which established a new Turkey-Libya economic zone that the EastMed pipeline would now have to cross — appeared aimed at giving Turkey more leverage over the project. Referring to the Turkey-Libya deal, Erdoğan said:
"Other international actors cannot conduct exploration activities in the areas marked in the Turkish-Libyan memorandum. Greek Cypriots, Egypt, Greece and Israel cannot establish a natural gas transmission line without Turkey's consent."
In December 2019, the Turkish Foreign Ministry summoned Israel's top diplomat in Ankara to inform him that Israel's plan to lay down a natural gas pipeline to Europe would require Turkey's approval.
Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said that there was no need to build the EastMed pipeline because the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline already exists. "The most economical and secure route to utilize the natural resources in the eastern Mediterranean and deliver them to consumption markets in Europe, including our country, is Turkey," he said in a statement.
The European Union dismissed the Turkey-Libya deal as inconsistent with international law. The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, said:
"The recent Turkey-Libya Memorandum of Understanding on the delimitation of maritime jurisdictions in the Mediterranean Sea infringes upon the sovereign rights of third States and does not comply with the Law of the Sea and cannot produce any legal consequences for third States."
Select Commentary
In a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, U.S. Representatives Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) wrote:
"We write in stark opposition to the Biden Administration's change of course on the EastMed pipeline project. Since 2019, the United States played a critical role in the establishment of the 3+1 [Greece, Israel and Cyprus plus the United States] framework and the Eastern Mediterranean energy development discussions. Digressing from that course is fraught with national security concerns. By undermining the EastMed pipeline project, the Biden Administration undercuts our allies and their hopes for energy independence and economic prosperity. The sting of the reversal is made worse by the Administration's continued tacit approval of Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipeline, deepening Europe's energy dependence on an adversary....
"Despite Europe's decades long push towards green and renewable energies, the surge in energy prices has ironically led to the increased use of coal to meet demand. Since natural gas is a cleaner energy option over other fossil fuels, it is a crucial energy source for government policies seeking to transition into greener energies. The European Union recognizes this and has even declared the [EastMed] pipeline a special project. The EastMed pipeline project would not only alleviate future shortages of natural gas to Europe but would promote energy independence and economic prosperity for our strategic allies of Greece, Israel and Cyprus.
"The reversal on the EastMed pipeline becomes only more hypocritical and offensive given the fact that President Biden continues to clear the path towards completion of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Biden's announcement last May to suspend sanctions on the Russian pipeline and his continued fight against sanctions shows clear preference towards Russia over our allies....
"We hope you and President Biden recognize the significant national security implications the United States and our European allies are facing because of European reliance on Russian gas. The EastMed pipeline must be a priority. It is a viable alternative to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and European dependence on Russian natural gas. We strongly urge you to reconsider your opposition to the EastMed pipeline project and support energy independence for our allies in the Eastern Mediterranean and Europe."
Energy analyst Ariel Cohen, in an essay — "America's Strategic Mistake in the Mediterranean" — wrote:
"As tensions between the Kremlin and NATO over Ukraine highlight Europe's strategic dependence on Russian gas, a critical natural gas pipeline stretching across the Mediterranean finds itself at the center of competing geopolitical forces. The EastMed Pipeline was supposed to diversify and increase European gas supplies, thereby enhancing the continent's energy security.
"The pipeline, over 1,100 miles long and costing over $7 billion, was given 'Special Project' status by the EU and hailed as a boon to EU energy independence by the United States. But in early 2022 the Biden administration did an about-face, informing allies that it no longer supported the strategic pipeline on environmental grounds.
"The project was designed to bring some 20 billion cubic meters (bcm) of dry natural gas from the offshore fields of Israel and Cyprus, across Greece, to Italy and Bulgaria — much to the chagrin of Turkey and Russia, both excluded from the project. As Europe suffers from historically high gas prices, and the U.S. scrambles to sanction Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipeline to Germany, EastMed is about to be killed.
"This is a disastrous decision that imperils European security and opens the door for further Russian energy hegemony in European gas markets. It should be reversed."
In an opinion article — "US Pipeline Withdrawal Marks New Chapter in Eastern Mediterranean" — Henri J. Barkey, a professor of International Relations at the U.S. based Lehigh University, wrote that the timing of the Biden administration's announcement was ill-timed:
"Even if the US may have thought it had a responsibility as part of the 3+1 mechanism of meetings with Cyprus, Greece and Israel designed to encourage regional cooperation, the fact remains that the decision to build a pipeline rests with those three countries and the Europeans, and not Washington.
"Similarly, if the project did not fit the future European green energy plans, presumably this too was a European decision. After all, both Greece and Cyprus are members of the European Union. But as it stands now, this announcement will be perceived as an attempt by Washington at strong-arming the parties.
"The timing of the non-paper was awkward. Europe and the US are amid one of the most dangerous confrontations with Russia over Ukraine. Russian natural gas pipelines are the ones that heat European homes and fuel industry. If President Vladimir Putin were to attack Ukraine, it appears that the recently completed Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany would be the first target of retaliation. Even if the EastMed pipeline was unrealistic, would it not have been more astute to let Putin think that Europe has other options?"
In an essay — "It's Not the Pipeline, Stupid" — Endy Zemenides, Executive Director of the Hellenic American Leadership Council, argued that the U.S. State Department must stop trying to appease Turkey:
"There has been a troubling trend of certain officials at State constantly probing for openings for Turkish participation in Eastern Mediterranean diplomatic initiatives.
"Turkey continues to make every State Department official who tries this look bad. A 'rules-based international order' — the very kind of order that President Joe Biden himself has set as his goal — is being established in the Eastern Mediterranean. Turkey doesn't accept any of these rules — not the Law of the Sea, not the exclusive economic zones that were legally delineated etc.
"Turkey is not looking to participate in Eastern Mediterranean initiatives, it wants to dominate them. Ankara's goal is not one of cooperation but of regional primacy if not hegemony. It is Turkey's behavior that has led to a balancing coalition which includes not only Greece, Cyprus and Israel, but Egypt and features support from France and others. The problem for Ankara is that this balancing coalition (unlike balancing coalitions in the South China Sea for example) now features a much larger total population, more dynamic and innovative economies, more than capable militaries, and far more diplomatic leverage.
"Moreover, Turkey's priorities are contrary to the priorities the US laid out in the non-paper, in two State Department statements and in interviews granted by Amos Hochstein following the controversy. Turkish officials are telling anyone that will listen that they also oppose the [electricity] interconnectors, which they declare "not viable" — directly contradicting State. President Erdogan declared that East Med gas is going nowhere without Turkey. Renewable energy goals in the region are hampered by the casus belli Turkey maintains against Greece in the Aegean — preventing for example wind turbines being developed outside of a 6-mile radius around Greek islands (an absurd limitation that would seriously and negatively affect Greek tourism if complied with).
"US officials recognize that the East Med Gas Forum has the potential to evolve and to be as significant as the European Coal and Steel Community. For Turkey to be part of that, it has to play the role of Germany of the 1950s instead of the Eastern Mediterranean's version of the revisionist Germany of World War II. State Department officials openly muse about Turkey the day after Erdogan yet keep trying to give Erdogan a place at the table. It is Turkey's behavior that has to change, not simply the manner in which it makes its demands."
Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute.
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Note: Gatestone appreciates your comments. The editors reserve the right not to publish comments containing: incitement to violence, profanity, or broad-brush slurring of any race, ethnic group or religion. Gatestone also reserves the right to edit comments for length, clarity and grammar, or to conform to these guidelines. Commenters' email addresses will not be displayed publicly. Please limit comments to 300 words or less. Longer submissions are unlikely to be published. 48 Reader Comments guest • Mar 11, 2022 at 12:53
Why did American opposition resulted in the cancellation of the project? Why did it involve countries that depend on American support for the project? Reply-> Cam Forrester • Mar 5, 2022 at 11:21
Great articulate, great journalism. So nice to see some meaty analysis at this time. Reply-> Gillian Wardlen • Mar 1, 2022 at 11:10
At last. The penny has dropped and now the necessity of the planned Mediteranian pipeline which the Trump admin approved has been proven blatantly obvious. Hopefully the countries involved will ignore the sour protests of Biden and and Erdogan, and forge ahead full steam with construction. Both these fellows put themselves above the obvious benefits to Europe and the agreements made between the involved countries. Silliness or plain anti-Israel? Reply-> Agnes • Feb 25, 2022 at 03:37
Israel, Greece and Cyprus are sovereign lands. Why is US permission needed? Reply-> Lynette • Feb 22, 2022 at 15:21
To express our displeasure with Biden's action, contact your Congressman AND your Senators AND Mitch McConnell and EVERY other Senator you believe might be honest enough to push back. We can only email our district's Congressman but we can email ALL Senators. Reply-> Philip Reinstein • Feb 22, 2022 at 06:01
The communist Biden gang is doing everything it can to destroy the free world. The stolen election launched a truly frightening time for free men and women. Fight for a victory in 2022. Reply-> Jay Johnston • Feb 20, 2022 at 11:10
Biden the unelected, corrupt US President, or the real behind the scene controllers of US policy, continue to their war on Europeans, Israel and Jesn Israel and Jews and other US citizens of European descent in the US. Reply-> Bernard Couvreur • Feb 20, 2022 at 05:12
Maybe it is time for the Europeans and the Israelis to grow some spine and go ahead with their project, Biden-Obama-Clinton administration notwithstanding. Reply-> Lynette • Feb 19, 2022 at 16:40
It is becoming increasingly clear that the Biden administration supports Russia, China and Turkey far more than it supports American allies. Make special note that there is NOTHING on the mainstream media about this action. Biden is deliberately forcing our allies in Europe to dependence on countries that hate them for fuel. Reply-> Christopher Finegan • Feb 19, 2022 at 02:55
Putin, for Israeli pipeline cancelled, as I hypothesize was original objective, since Biden approved Nord Stream 2 and only put on temp hold.
May next guess, to Reduce anticipated pushback, is Putin skipped Ukraine invasion, and opted for far easier stroll in park across USA southern border where no resistance whatsoever is anticipated. Reply-> Barbara Douglas • Feb 18, 2022 at 17:34
This is exactly what we should expect from this bogus administration. All of Biden's and his cabinet's actions are designed to destroy the United States economy, and it's super power. Obama, Clinton, Bush they were all setting the scene for this administration's destruction of America. And we all know anyone who hurts Israel is an enemy to progress. Think what you like, but these actions will carry extreme repercussions. Reply-> Johnny Kohen Barbara Douglas • Mar 5, 2022 at 19:19
I just have one question; WHY?! Reply-> Nicholas John Papadopoulos • Feb 17, 2022 at 17:56
It is an extremely stupid decision of the US government to try to stop the Israel-Europe gas pipeline ... Erdogan is a complete raving nutcase Islamist with designs against Israel, Cyprus and Greece all of which are key US allies.
Nicholas John Papadopoulos Auckland, New Zealand. Reply-> Conrad Kalish • Feb 15, 2022 at 20:36
Clearly, Biden is and always has been a political fixer, with no consideration within his mind of economic theory or national security. In return for 'green economics', we get resource scarcities, high oil and gas prices, and the fealty of lobbyists in return for gushers of printed money. Energy blackmail is what Putin wants, and Biden is giving it to him! Biden apparently wants a war with Russia too, though saber rattling over Ukraine is far more expensive than tending to one's own knitting in energy and reshoring of industry. What is this blind respect of anything Islamist in Ankara, Tehran or even Algiers by Biden Progressives? Why kid ourselves that Erdogan is not on a death spiral of destructive economics, which disqualifies him from making grandiose diplomatic pronouncements concerning the West in general?
The answer, is follow the money. Not for nothing should we follow the latest news about Clinton and the CIA literally spying on the Trump Administration. If we do not call out the Deep Statists of the Democrat Party for what they are, the rats will eat us alive. Reply-> jule • Feb 15, 2022 at 19:55
I would bet that it is not so about Turkey as how how much US has invested with Germany for Nord Stream. Most of us do not know how much US business and energy people are in Ukraine. It's MONEY! And guess how many politicians are in it too. Reply-> GGbox • Feb 15, 2022 at 19:07
It's amazing how Biden gets everything wrong. Reply-> John T Jimenez • Feb 15, 2022 at 18:51
Why are we even dealing with Erdogan, who seems to have been one of the prime movers behind ISIS in Syria and Iraq, and as another commentator pointed out, his alliance with Pakistan, providing support for the Taliban all of these years, and Pakistan being more allied with China, while playing two sides of the street with us. Who are these handlers of Biden, quashing a pipeline that would enhance the independence and development of Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary? Is Biden that compromised by the CCP? Reply-> willful knowledge • Feb 15, 2022 at 17:03
I'm sorry but I fail to see how the US, a nation without a financial stake in or physical control of the route for the pipeline, can cancel the pipeline without complete surrender by the nations involved by an overbearing United States. This administration, even more than the Obama administration, has made me ashamed of my US citizenship. Reply-> studly • Feb 15, 2022 at 16:13
It is very strange that a Biden is involved with helping Turkey. The elephant in the room is the president's family benefiting monetarily like in the past? How does one know ? Just look a Pelosi, Schumer and others in the Democrats that have made fortunes while suppose to be working for the citizens of United States. Your country is as bad as mine, Canada. Reply-> Christopher Finegan • Feb 15, 2022 at 15:00
Putin quid-pro-quo deal likely: Biden pretends to temporarily oppose Nord Stream 2, whilst permanently opposing Israel's direct pipeline, which may have been Putin's goal all along, to increase Russian leverage on Eurozone. Putin always said he had no intention of invading Ukraine, he just didn't want Ukraine in NATO, which Biden could have easily agreed to. Like Bay of Pigs, USA didn't want Cuba missiles on border, JFK did "needful" sabre-rattling to stop. Albeit with hypersonic missiles these border missiles are less of a threat, but an unwanted new threat regardless. Reply-> Richard Kronenfeld • Feb 15, 2022 at 14:31
The Obama-Biden administration 3.0 consistently pursues policies that are against the interests of America, Israel, and our other traditional allies in favor of cultivating dictatorships - Russia, China, Iran, Turkey. When will traditional liberals, including my fellow Jews, finally catch on that voting for the party of Obama is not a good idea? Reply-> springerst94 • Feb 15, 2022 at 13:48
It isn't up to the Biden administration. Biden has no business sticking his nose in the affairs of other sovereign nations' agreements. Reply-> Aaron springerst94 • Feb 15, 2022 at 16:55
This stumps me as well. If I were Biden, I would offer technical help, I would offer loans, and I would give political support. What I wouldn't do is pay for something that the parties who benefit can afford to pay for themselves. Even failing all of this, why does it matter what Biden says? It isn't our land the pipeline passes through, it isn't our sea areas thru which the pipeline will run, and we aren't buying or selling the gas..... we aren't involved and shouldn't be, but there are many interested parties who would be smart to bypass Turkey. Reply-> J Brook • Feb 15, 2022 at 11:14
This also flies in the face of the improving relationships between Israel and a number of Middle Eastern countries, which benefits them all! It seems a win / win for a lot of reasons. I would suggest that it is a foolish decision to disrupt it. But truly, "stupid" seems a more accurate description. Reply-> shloime J Brook • Feb 17, 2022 at 15:07
The first priority of the Biden administration was to demonstrate that they are the "anti-Trump", and undo or badmouth anything and everything which might be misconstrued as a trump accomplishment. this includes the Abraham Accords.
Their next order of business was to restore everything Obama, including the Iran nuclear deal, and support for the Islamist movement in general. that's why they're bashing Egypt and Saudi Arabia over supposed "human rights", while cozying up to the Houthis and the Taliban. Reply-> stpaulchuck • Feb 15, 2022 at 10:36
Erdogan is crazy with the idea of recreating the Ottoman Empire with him in charge. It is causing all sorts of unnecessary issues. Reply-> Steven • Feb 15, 2022 at 10:27
Rather than appeasing Turkey, although that may be a consideration, but not the dominant issue, the decision favors Iran. It's not surprising that the paper isn't a publicly disclosed decision, since it would alienate supporters of Israel in the US, although that hasn't stopped such declarations by the Biden and other Democratic Party administrations previously. The Biden administration is growing increasingly committed to doing whatever it takes to get Iran to re-enter a new nuclear agreement, so this decision is likely the tip of the iceberg. The Biden administration likely wants Turkey to help persuade Iran to re-negotiate the nuclear agreement. The price is likely to keep going up, such as support if not arm twisting for Turkey to be accepted into the EU. I'm not sure how the US even got involved in this decision? How is the US involved in decisions by countries in the Eastern Mediterranean about how they manage their economies. This can only serve to drive a wedge between US and Israel, and possibly that is actually the intent, to cast Israel in a negative light to American voters by the Biden administration.
The correct date is February 2022, not 2002.
Insane these people are.......................
True, but how many American Jews will speak up?
Why can't Europe and Israel go ahead, and build and pay for it themselves, without American support?
“True, but how many American Jews will speak up?”
Dunno, but how is this relevant to the article?
A better question would be “True, but how many Americans of European origin will speak up?”, given Europe is the area being screwed to favor Turkey and Russia.
These climate a-holes better be stopped now. They will inflict misery and economic ruin on all of us.
“Why is American “support” necessary? Was the U.S. going to subsidize this pipeline?”
Because the pipeline was a Chevron-led project, and Joe said he’d refuse SEC and environmental sign-off on the funding.
“Why can’t Europe and Israel go ahead, and build and pay for it themselves, without American support?”
There is no “American” support, unless you mean American companies and shareholders looking to make money. But, there are efforts underway to have non-American companies fund and undertake the project. The non-American capital markets just aren’t as robust and your pipeline companies are the best in the world.
“These climate a-holes better be stopped now. They will inflict misery and economic ruin on all of us.”
And it makes no sense. Gas from Russia is still gas.
The Biden administration has abruptly withdrawn American support for the Eastern Mediterranean (EastMed) pipeline
I wasn't sure what the article meant.
“antithetical to its “climate goals.”
They are trying to break us... It might not work as planned.
Sure, I hope I (and a deeper read of the article) answered your question.
Basically, Biden made it clear that American companies can’t participate — or face the consequences. They use the IRS, EPA, SEC, bank lending regs, whatever, to support their goal.
It’s all part of his war on domestic oil/gas producers — even when producing outside the USA.
Plus, it’s a shout out to the antisemitic base of the Democrat party.
“They are trying to break us... It might not work as planned.”
Correct. In this instance, necessity will create a robust European/Israel pipeline planning and manufacturing industry.
If I was a shareholder of Chevron, I’d be mighty angry.
Geez he’s like the reverse orca wimpfree. “You get no oil, and you get no oil, and you get no oil......”
Hopefully it goes ahead now that the Yurps have decided Natural Gas is “green”.
Brainless Joe Biden.
Never underestimate Joe’s ability to f things up
****
America used to be a British colony.
Now Western Europe is an American colony.
They just haven’t figured it out yet.
The Biden administration is irrelevant to the pipeline. They’re just taking another verbal jab to further poison usa relations with at our Allies in Europe and Israel.
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