“Energy Dominance” Means Forcing Other Countries To Buy Your LNG – CleanTechnica

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The current US administration is puffing out its chest and bleating about “energy dominance.” If anyone wonders what that means, now we have the answer. It means imposing your need to make a buck on countries that are striving to address the global heating phenomenon. In other words, it means threatening your neighbors that if they do not do as you say, their supply of LNG will be terminated. If people freeze this winter, that is hard cheese.

At issue is something known as CSDDD, which stands for the corporate sustainability due diligence directive that went into effect on July 25, 2024. In a blog post, the European Commission said:

This Directive establishes a corporate due diligence duty. The core elements of this duty are identifying and addressing potential and actual adverse human rights and environmental impacts in the company’s own operations, their subsidiaries and, where related to their value chain(s), those of their business partners. In addition, the Directive sets out an obligation for large companies to adopt and put into effect, through best efforts, a transition plan for climate change mitigation aligned with the 2050 climate neutrality objective of the Paris Agreement as well as intermediate targets under the European Climate Law.

Well, that should sound quite lovely — and long past due — to many CleanTechnica readers. How are we supposed to move forward with national and global climate action if there is no accountability? But as always, climate policies sound good on paper but are politically unpopular. The CSDDD has gotten significant pushback from the corporations subject to its provisions.

The Letter

Now the US and Qatar have sent a letter to the European Commission that is little more than a thinly veiled threat. The letter, from US energy secretary Chris Wright and Qatari minister of state for energy affairs Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, said in part:

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We write […] to express our deep concern over the continued lack of action to address the universally acknowledged, serious, and legitimate concerns raised by the global business community regarding the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). Particularly its unintended consequences for LNG export competitiveness and the availability of reliable, affordable energy for EU consumers. […]

We have consistently and transparently communicated how the CSDDD, as it is worded today, poses a significant risk to the affordability and reliability of critical energy supplies for households and businesses across Europe and an existential threat to the future growth, competitiveness, and resilience of the EU’s industrial economy. It is our genuine belief, as allies and friends of the EU, that the CSDDD will cause considerable harm to the EU and its citizens, as it will lead to higher energy and other commodity prices, and have a chilling effect on investment and trade.

It is of great concern that none of these issues have been properly addressed in the alternative texts that have been formally adopted to date by the European Council and the European Parliament, in response to the Omnibus package proposed in February 2025 by the European Commission. The Omnibus, whose stated purpose was to simplify the requirements of the CSDDD to make it workable for both EU and non-EU companies wishing to invest and continue to conduct business in the EU, falls grossly short of its aspirations.

The EU and its Member States must now act swiftly to address these legitimate concerns, either by repealing the CSDDD in its entirety or removing its most economically damaging provisions. In particular, we urge reconsideration of:

• • Article 2, on the Directive’s extraterritorial application;
  • Article 22, on transition plans for climate change mitigation;
  • Article 27, on penalties;
  • Article 29, on civil liability of companies.

Together, these provisions pose significant challenges and seriously undermine the ability of the American, Qatari, and broader international energy community to maintain and expand their partnerships and operations within the EU. This comes at a critical moment when our countries and companies are striving not only to sustain but to significantly increase the reliable supply of LNG to the EU in line with European strategic aspirations. There is little debate that natural gas and LNG will remain a critical energy source and a key part of the EU’s energy mix for many decades to come.

Beyond the direct energy security risks, the CSDDD also threatens to disrupt trade and investments across nearly all the EU’s partner economies. Its implementation could jeopardize existing and future investments, employment, and compliance with recent trade agreements.

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The EU & LNG

Politics is a messy business. The EU still gets significant LNG exports from Russia, but wants to phase them out as part of its desire to support Ukraine in its efforts to repel Russian aggression. But according to a report by Zero Carbon Analytics in January of this year, “The EU’s total gas demand has already peaked, declining by 13 percent in 2022 and 7 percent in 2023. Consumption has continued to fall in 2024. European energy regulators have also forecast that the EU is likely to reach peak demand for imports of LNG in 2024.

“This decrease in demand is set to continue. The EU’s demand for gas is set to decline by 29 percent from 2024 levels by 2030, and 67 percent by 2040, according to the European Commission’s impact assessment for the proposed target to reduce emissions by 90% by 2040. Similarly, LNG demand would drop from over 120 bcm (billion cubic meters) per year in 2024 to below 60 bcm per year before 2030, if the EU meets the targets under its REPowerEU strategy.

“As a result of this declining demand, the EU could soon be facing a gas surplus. Under the EU’s current climate targets, gas supply from currently producing projects in the EU, Norway and Algeria, and existing contracts from elsewhere, is set to exceed demand by 2035. After that point, the EU will need to manage its oversupply through the managed decline of existing production in producer countries and/or not taking gas under their agreed contracts. Any contracts agreed now that run beyond 2035 would be surplus to requirements and would exacerbate the EU’s forecast gas supply glut.”

The EU would be better off spending money on renewables that allow it to tell the US and Qatar to go pound sand. Once you burn LNG, you have to buy more. If you install a solar panel, you collect free solar energy for the next 20 to 30 years.

The EU Knuckles Under

Reuters reports that the EU was already considering making changes to exempt more companies from the CSDDD, which requires companies operating in the EU to fix human rights and environmental issues in their supply chains or face fines of up to 5 percent of their global revenue. Companies such as ExxonMobil have demanded the EU go further and fully withdraw the policy, arguing it will lead to corporations deciding not to do business in Europe.

Reuters added that on October 22, the European Parliament voted to reopen the CSDDD law to potentially weaken it in response to the threats from the US and Qatar, with any proposed changes to be taken up by the European Parliament next month. The Parliament and EU countries will then negotiate the final changes and hope to get them approved by the end of the year.

So, just like Luca Brasi putting the head of a race horse in the bed of an opponent, Chris Wright and Al-Kabbi have told the EU, “Do what we say or we are going to inflict major pain on you and your people.” Mario Puzo himself could never have imagined such a thing.

The Qatar Connection

Qatar has been much in the news since the new US administration took over the reins of government in January. Earlier this year, the Qataris gifted a Boeing 747 to the administration. The aircraft is valued at $400 million, but converting it for use as Air Force One is expected to cost American taxpayers over $1 billion, at a time when Repugnicans are desperate to deprive Americans of affordable health care, SNAP benefits, and a host of other programs deemed too “woke” for the Red Team to swallow.

The so-called president has already said he intends to give the plane to his presidential library so he can have it for his personal use after he leaves office (assuming he ever does). Sherman Adams was publicly disgraced during the Eisenhower administration for accepting a vicuna coat from a South America diplomat. This president intends to walk away with a $1.5 billion airplane and no one is raising an eyebrow.

Qatar has been the home in exile for many Palestinian leaders, including those affiliated with Hamas, and has played a major role in obtaining a ceasefire in Gaza. In exchange, it is being gifted with a new training facility for its air force in Idaho. But that is not the end of it. According to Axios, the president has been granted permission to develop a new luxury golf resort in Qatar.

The graft never ends with this president, who uses the Offal Office to extort lavish gifts to himself from those seeking to do business in the United States. Thanks to the right-wing stooges on the Supreme Court, there is literally nothing the president can do that they will not bless with the imprimatur of their approval. Perhaps he will use the Qatari jet to fly over the US, dumping the contents of its restrooms on the peons below. What a classy guy.