Is there a link between Russia’s nakes aggression and invasion of Ukraine, and American shale gas, like that found in the Marcellus and Utica? You bet there is! When Russian bully Vlad Putin wants to throw his weight around, he turns off the natural gas pipeline to places like Poland and Ukraine. Keeps the peasants in line, especially during long, cold winters like this one. Just the threat of turning it off has a profound effect.
Four eastern European nations–Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic sent an official letter on Friday to U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner begging him to step up U.S. efforts at exporting natural gas to Europe–so they can tell Vlad where to stick his gas. American exports would make for a much more secure Europe and would serve to marginalize Putin and his bullies. If we could just get the Obama administration to start crawling toward more export facility approvals (instead of being at a virtual standstill), it would certainly help. Exporting to Europe would help sop up some of the oversupply we have in the Marcellus Shale…
