{"id":607,"date":"2014-03-10T17:21:36","date_gmt":"2014-03-10T17:21:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wallstreetandkstreet.com\/?p=607"},"modified":"2014-03-10T17:21:36","modified_gmt":"2014-03-10T17:21:36","slug":"obama-punishes-putin-as-reported-in-the-nyt-mar-25-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wallstreetandkstreet.com\/?p=607","title":{"rendered":"Obama Punishes Putin (as reported in the NYT, Mar. 25, 2014)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Obama Vows to \u201cStep on Gas\u201d in Response to Putin<\/strong><\/p>\n

Address to Nation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Shift in Energy Policy to Increase U.S. Exports, <\/strong><\/p>\n

Reduce European Dependence on Russia, Curb Emissions<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Keith Beidermeyer and Philip Furlinger<\/p>\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 In a ten minute speech from the oval office, U.S. President Barack Obama outlined a plan to accelerate development of American oil and natural gas resources in a bid to reduce Russian influence in Europe.\u00a0 \u201cIt is time for America to step on the gas.\u00a0 If we move decisively, in concert with our European friends and allies,\u201d Mr. Obama said, \u201cwe can increase U.S. exports, reduce European reliance on Russian natural gas, raise the living standards of America\u2019s working families, and cut global emissions of greenhouse gasses that threaten our planet.\u201d\u00a0 The plan has four main elements.\u00a0 First, immediate approval of the Keystone XL Pipeline, which will move crude oil from Canada to America\u2019s gulf coast.\u00a0 Second, permitting renewed exports of crude oil from the United States, which were banned during the oil crisis of the early 1970s.\u00a0 Third, open up more Federal land in the United States to oil and gas production, while encouraging states to speed up drilling permits.\u00a0 Fourth, accelerate permits for construction of liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities in U.S. ports.<\/p>\n

Financial markets reacted swiftly to the unexpected news.\u00a0 Asian stocks rallied strongly, as Obama\u2019s plan was believed to cut the risk of a violent confrontation with Russia over Ukraine. \u00a0In Japan, which imports most of its energy, the Nikkei index was up 2.3% at mid-day; the Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.7%.\u00a0 U.S. stock index futures were up 1.5%.\u00a0 Natural gas prices plunged on an expected increase in global supply.\u00a0 The price on contracts for May delivery fell 12.7% to $5.23 per million British thermal units.\u00a0 Brent crude oil prices declined $2.86 to $102.35 per barrel.\u00a0 Currency markets were also volatile.\u00a0 The Euro climbed 1% versus the U.S. dollar to $1.393 on the improved energy outlook in Europe and reduced tensions in the Ukraine.\u00a0 But the Russian ruble fell 5.2% and shares of Gazprom, the Russian energy giant, plummeted 12.8% to a ten-year low.\u00a0 Russian share prices were broadly lower.\u00a0 \u201cThe Russian economy is a one-trick pony, and that pony just broke its leg,\u201d said Erhard Zimmerman, senior emerging market economist at Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt.<\/p>\n

Mr. Obama\u2019s plan is likely to be controversial with environmental activists within the Democratic Party.\u00a0 But administration officials pointed out that it would actually reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Europe, which has increasingly been relying on importing U.S. coal, whose price has declined as it is displaced by cheap natural gas in the U.S. electricity sector.\u00a0 \u201cThis is an economic, environmental, and geopolitical win for both the U.S. and Europe.\u201d said Barton Howard Wentworth, Undersecretary of State for Economic Affairs, \u201cU.S. exports will increase while European energy security improves.\u00a0 And carbon emissions will decline as Europe uses less coal.\u201d\u00a0 Opposition to the Keystone Pipeline has been a major priority for environmental advocates.\u00a0 Mr. Wentworth noted that pipelines were safer than moving crude oil by rail cars, which have been involved in several major accidents in recent years.\u00a0 Cleopatra Franpoui, spokesman for the Progressive Energy Coalition, vowed to fight Obama\u2019s plan, saying \u201cThis stop-gap measure will only increase American addiction to . . . .<\/p>\n

Copyright Thomas Doerflinger 2014.\u00a0 All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Obama Vows to \u201cStep on Gas\u201d in Response to Putin Address to Nation Shift in Energy Policy to Increase U.S. Exports, Reduce European Dependence on Russia, Curb Emissions By Keith Beidermeyer and Philip Furlinger WASHINGTON \u2014 In a ten minute … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[294,295,293,291,292,290],"class_list":["post-607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-european-energy-policy","tag-geopolitics","tag-greenhouse-gases","tag-putin","tag-u-s-energy-policy","tag-ukraine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wallstreetandkstreet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wallstreetandkstreet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wallstreetandkstreet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wallstreetandkstreet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wallstreetandkstreet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=607"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.wallstreetandkstreet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":610,"href":"https:\/\/www.wallstreetandkstreet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607\/revisions\/610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wallstreetandkstreet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wallstreetandkstreet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wallstreetandkstreet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}