LNG, Palestine, and Biden’s Climate Hypocrisy

Biden aims to secure the “youth” and “climate” vote, but we cannot allow false choices between peace and climate action. They are intertwined.

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In the environmental and climate justice movement in the U.S. Gulf South, we are in charge of our own destiny. We reject sacrifice zones anywhere and everywhere, from Port Arthur and Pascagoula to Palestine.

GulfRoots Collective wants to make it clear that we will keep our eyes on the prize: freedom to flourish beyond war, hate, and environmental violence.

Last month, the Biden administration put a pause on new LNG fracked gas export licenses. This came the same day as a federal court heard arguments and testimony from Palestinians in the case Defense for Children Internation – Palestine v. Biden. The court recognized the United States was providing unconditional support to Israel’s ongoing genocide.

Biden’s announcement regarding LNG exports was a distraction from the genocide charges against him. While the LNG pause buys some time for the climate, it does little to stop projects already approved by the Department of Energy.

Biden’s environmental and climate promises fall especially flat when we consider his unconditional support for Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people. We already see the Biden administration and fossil fuel companies sell LNG as bolstering “national security” and “helping our allies” – coded language for racist, capitalist imperialism.

New research also reveals that the planet-warming emissions generated during the first two months of Israel’s assault on Gaza were greater than the annual carbon footprint of more than 20 of the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations. Over half of those emissions stemmed from U.S. weapons shipments to Israel.

This hypocrisy is business as usual for President Biden.

The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which he hoped to frame as a victory for climate justice, actually opened up more oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and funneled billions of dollars into false solutions like carbon waste injection (aka “carbon capture”). Rather than making amends for injustice, these policies continue to sacrifice oppressed peoples and places.

Ultimately, it is a political move for Biden to secure the “youth” and “climate” vote while splitting the attention for an immediate and permanent ceasefire — which still hasn’t happened after 125 days of genocide. What we’re witnessing instead is the Biden administration talking with Israel about how to develop Palestinian offshore gas fields.

We cannot allow false choices between peace and climate action. They are intertwined. We must demand real climate action and an end to the imperialist war machine.

From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!