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Commentary
Wall Street Journal

Energy Crisis Hobbles Biden’s Green Agenda

walter_russell_mead
walter_russell_mead
Ravenel B. Curry III Distinguished Fellow in Strategy and Statesmanship
Gas prices approaching $5 a gallon are displayed in front of a Shell gas station on October 05, 2021 in San Rafael, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Caption
Gas prices approaching $5 a gallon are displayed in front of a Shell gas station on October 05, 2021 in San Rafael, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

As energy prices soar around the world, the key assumption behind President Biden’s foreign policy faces a severe test. That assumption is that aggressively backing the transition from fossil fuels to renewables will strengthen the administration’s hand at home and abroad.

Bidenites think that climate offers an opportunity to pry Democratic greens and harder-left progressives apart. The deep-blue progressives want massive cuts in the military budget and a wholesale reorientation of American foreign policy toward longtime left-wing goals. Overall, the idea is a transformation of American budget priorities toward domestic spending.

Many greens, on the other hand, are more centrist in their general foreign-policy approach and, if satisfied that the administration is actively pursuing a hard-hitting climate agenda, will with varying degrees of enthusiasm support such Biden goals as a tougher policy toward China.

Bidenites reason that if they make enough greens happy enough with ambitious climate policies, and if they deliver enough money to enough progressive interest groups at home, the administration can count on enough Democratic support to pursue a strong Asia policy.

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