If Biden does become President, he is likely to cause some serious setbacks for the USA and boosts for our enemies.
Forbes posted “The Coming Energy Shocks Under A Biden Administration” that, based upon Biden’s campaign promises, are very disruptive. I have selected parts of the posting, with some comments of my own, as follows:
“But don’t be lulled by soothing thoughts of policy continuity under a Biden-Harris administration. The contrast between Republican and Democratic world-views of fossil fuels and global energy geopolitics could not be more stark. And nowhere are the costs as extravagant as in the promises made regarding the Green New Deal. The adverse impacts on US domestic affairs will be as profound as they will be on the global stage. The policy discontinuity expected to take place in the oil and gas sectors under a Biden administration is about as radical as one can contemplate in US and global affairs.
The Biden Plan for a “100% clean energy economy [which] reaches net-zero emissions no later than 2050” will require his administration to sign in its own words “a series of new executive orders with unprecedented reach that go well beyond the Obama-Biden Administration platform and put us on the right track”. The 4-year, $1.7 trillion Biden plan – reflecting an even more aggressive “climate crisis” action plan set out by the House Democrats — includes banning fracking in federal lands and waters, denying federal permits for new fossil fuel infrastructure projects, and ensuring 100% clean renewable energy by 2035 in electricity generation, buildings, and transportation.”
Executive orders are band-aid measures that Presidents use to set policy for issues that can not gain Congress’ approval. However, ambitious program such as net-zero and Green New Deal will require gun-shy Senators and Representatives to vote for the massive financing that those programs will require. Congress’ appetite for bravery has been in short supply in recent years.
Re-joining The Paris Agreement
“At the international level, Biden is committed to immediately re-join the Paris Agreement if elected president. At a stroke, a Biden-Harris administration will advantage key global energy players which have been sorely tested by President Trump’s “energy dominance” and “America First” agendas. A Biden presidency which would relinquish the role of the U.S. as the world’s leading oil and gas producer would no doubt be welcomed by Russia and the OPEC oil and gas exporters struggling with low energy prices. For oil and gas companies such as Russia’s Gazprom and Rosneft or Saudi Arabia’s Aramco, th prospect of a US government-induced degradation of its own country’s prolific shale oil and gas production as part of a climate change commitment would be like music to the ears.
A Biden-Harris administration intent on renewable energy and climate change priorities by constraining US oil and gas production would achieve, at a stroke, the long-sought and common objectives of Russia, Saudi Arabia and other OPEC oil and gas producers. It would achieve results that Saudi policy since 2014 had consistently failed to attain by engaging in an all-out price war against a resilient and resurgent US oil and gas sector.”
A Wall Street Journal editorial said President Trump should call for a vote on the Paris Agreement. The Obama administration said it was an “agreement” not a treaty. But that administration acted like it was a treaty. Authorizaion of the Treaty would call for two-thirds of the Senators to vote in favor. It would be highly unlikely to get two-thirds. Thus, re-joining the Agreement would not make it legitimate.
The Middle East: Wary of a Biden Presidency
“But Biden is no unalloyed blessing for the Middle East. While assisting Russia, Saudi Arabia and the rest of the OPEC+ group by hobbling US oil and gas production, a Biden administration will also consider easing President Trump’s “maximum pressure” sanctions on Iran. Biden’s loyalty to President Obama’s legacy project to rehabilitate Iran is well known, and he has stated that he would return to the 2015 nuclear deal if Tehran “resumes compliance”. A potential resumption of Iranian exports of over 2.5 million barrels per day (its peak export level in 2018 before President Trump’s oil sanctions were imposed) would make it impossible for the OPEC+ group to balance supply and demand. The OPEC+ cutback agreement of 9.7 million b/d would be at the risk of collapse, along with oil prices from their already low sub-$40/barrel levels.
According to one newswire report, key members of OPEC “are wary that strains in the OPEC+ alliance could re-emerge with Joe Biden as U.S. President” and “would miss President Donald Trump who went from criticizing the group to helping bring about a record oil output cut”. While President Trump brokered a deal between Russia and Saudi Arabia that brought about a record oil output cut by the OPEC+ group, a future President Biden would likely re-assess US ties to Saudi Arabia (called by Biden a “pariah” state) and Russia (which he considers to be the most serious security threat to US interests).
The surge in U.S. oil and gas exports which gathered pace in the past decade allowed President Trump to pursue an “energy dominance” agenda which made the U.S. less vulnerable to political and social upheavals in the Middle East. It increased its foreign policy leverage in achieving strategic objectives, giving the Trump administration greater latitude to support allies and sanction rivals. It made it easier for President Trump to impose export sanctions on oil-producing adversaries such as Venezuela and Iran without the fear of a resulting spike in global oil prices.
A Biden presidency committed to the radical decarbonization agenda would undermine these achievements, and in the process, make the US and the rest of the world far more vulnerable to the vicissitudes of volatile energy markets and political instability in the Middle East.
Whether the energy shock emanates from the eclipse of the US as the world’s leading oil and gas producer (leading to high oil and gas prices) or from the collapse of the OPEC+ production cut agreement brought about by the re-emergence of unconstrained Iranian exports (leading to very low oil and gas prices), a Biden presidency presents some highly disruptive scenarios in global energy affairs, scenarios no less disruptive than any under Trump’s watch.”
The Republicans need to win at least one of the two seats in the Senate that are up for grabs in Georgia’s upcoming election. If the Democrats win those races , the House, Senate and Executive will be in Democrat control. Measures to stop the New Green Deal, re-entry into the Paris Agreement and once again siding with Iran in the middle east might be unstoppable.
cbdakota
Climate Change Sanity 
Thank you for this very thorough analysis.
Chuck – The linked article reads like a Tom Clancy novel, but who the hell knows what’s going on. I’ve read other articles that describe that CIA Director Gina Haspel was slightly injured in the military raid on the CIA server facility and she’s singing like a bird. This article explains how the military could act against the CIA without having to get the German govt. nor DOJ / FBI involved.
https://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2020/11/unraveling-the-deep-state-coup.html
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Dick a little off subject but a very interesting comment.
I had assumed that the dominion electronics in Europe were somehow to prove that they were used to manipulate an election. I never would have associated it with the CIA and FBI leaders. That is an interesting turn and if a soft coup attempt is provable, let us see some charges filed, and soon.
cbdakota