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The Biden administration and Democrats are pushing back against a years-long trend in energy policy that was set in motion by their own former leader.

In tandem with actions aimed at protecting the climate, former President Obama pursued an aggressive policy of natural gas exports — one which President Biden continued for most of his first term.

Early Friday morning, however, Biden — under heavy pressure from many in his own party — signaled a step back, announcing a pause on permits for the segment of the vast fleet of new gas export terminals still awaiting federal permission to build.

During that pause, the president wrote, the administration will “take a hard look at the impacts of [liquified natural gas, or LNG] exports on energy costs, America’s energy security, and our environment.”

Environmentalists, congressional Democrats and communities in the shadow of the export terminals have pushed Biden on the issue, fearing that the gas terminals will fuel an enormous boom in the burning of the planet-heating chemical and undercut renewables, potentially hamstringing attempts to slow climate change.

President Biden walks with former President Obama on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022, in Philadelphia during a midterms campaign rally. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

The gas industry contends that because the fuel burns cleaner than coal, the expansion of U.S. gas exports will help the world at large cut emissions — and their restriction will hand the initiative to less responsible actors.

Critics, however, have pointed to findings that even relatively small amounts of leakage from natural gas pipelines can make the fuel as damaging to the climate as coal — findings the industry disputes.

The Biden administration’s decision to implement the pause and review LNG exports’ impacts marks an elevation of critics’ concerns. It also represents a sea change from Obama’s tenure, when the White House didn’t see the themes of climate action and gas boosterism as contradictory, and when the current boom in U.S. gas exports began. 

Back then, the White House embraced the idea that gas could be a “bridge fuel” connecting a largely coal-based U.S. power system to a glittering future of renewables — and that U.S. exports of fracked gas could do the same thing for the world at large.

Obama took office amid an epochal boom in U.S. oil and gas that he had inherited from former President George W. Bush. Starting in the second half of the Bush administration, surging gas prices — which spiked sixfold between 2002 and 2005 — helped fund revolutionary new drilling methods that fueled a gas boom. 

These shifts had a dramatic effects on the formerly placid world of U.S. gas, which had been largely flat for decades. In 2005 — the year prices spiked — the nation produced about as much gas as it had in 1967.

That changed quickly. By 2008, when Obama took office, gas production had edged up to 13 percent over where it had been in 2005. By the time he left, it was 50 percent higher — and for the first time in history, the United States had a gas export industry.

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Biden bucks Obamas legacy on climate and gas with LNG export pause - The Hill

Malia Obama might be the daughter of a former world leader, but shes keeping things subtle with her directorial debut at the Sundance Film Festival. For one thing, shes dropped the Obama from her name to go by Malia Ann. Also, if you were expecting some kind of political thriller, or a Lady Bird-like coming-of-age piece about a young woman growing up in a very big, white house, think again.

Obamas 18-minute narrative short film The Heart is a quiet story about a man named Joshua (Tunde Adebimpe) who lives with his mother (LaTonya Borsay). We open to a black screen and listen in on a strange, half-hearted argument. Joshua has failed to bring milk home along with the other groceries, and although he insists the store ran out, his mother doesnt seem to believe him. Later that night, she dies from a heart attack while hes upstairs in the shower. As we come to find out, her will contains a strange request: She wants her heart preserved in a jar for posterity.

As far as Sundance short films go, The Heart is pretty par for the courseits subtle, its somewhat strange, and its visuals are warm and lo-fi. In her Meet the Artist video, Obama describes the production as somewhat of a fable and adds, The film is about lost objects and lonely people, forgiveness and regret. But I also think it works hard to uncover where tenderness and closeness can exist in these things.

Yes, yes, of course[sips tea and adjusts monocle]but more importantly, is this short film any good?

On the whole, The Heart is a solid but mostly forgettable short film. Theres plenty of technique on display, from its well composed shots to its homey, nostalgic color palette, but the story and performances ring a little emptyas though a piece is missing. On an emotional level, at least, The Heart actually is a little lifeless.

Obama, now 25, clearly picked up some solid filmmaking chops during her time at Harvard, where she reportedly focused on Visual and Environmental Studies. Her previous production experiences include writing for Donald Glovers Swarm in 2021 and working and/or interning on series including Girls and Halle Berrys CBS sci-fi drama Extant. Obama also interned for the Weinstein Company in 2017, before allegations against Harvey Weinstein made national news. In spite of Obamas technical accomplishments, however, its hard not to wish that The Heart felt a little more personal. Ironically, given its title, the short feels a little too intellectually drivendevoid of real feeling.

The short films climax is more confusing than anything, and not just because Josh is riding a bus home with the heart on full display beside him. (Did no one think to give him a paper bag for that thing?) Along the way, he spots a woman who looks just like his mother. Despite her protestations that she does not know him and has never met him, Josh proceeds to explain why he failed to buy the milk on the day she died, but only after hes made her drop all her groceries on the ground. As Josh tearfully explains himself, his forcibly adopted surrogate mother tells him the quarrel is nothing to cry about just before the camera cuts to a shot of the spilled milk on the ground. (Get it?)

After the two part ways, a final shot of the inside of the bus reveals the heart that Josh left behind, sitting on its seat alone. OK.

As a former First Daughterand one whose family endured an untold amount of racist harassment in the mediathe stakes for Obamas debut effort feel a little higher than your average first-timer at Sundance. Speaking with GQ last year, Donald Glover himself recalled telling his protge that the quality of her first film would be paramount. Youre Obamas daughter, he recalled telling her. So if you make a bad film, it will follow you around.

The Heart is not a bad film, and its certainly not awful enough to follow Obama or anyone around; really, its about what youd expect from a young filmmaker who is still relatively fresh in the game. If nothing else, the intention behind it is admirable enough to hope that Obama keeps exploring what she has to say as a filmmaker. We hope that you enjoy the film, she said during her Meet the Artist session, and that it makes you feel a bit less lonelyor at least reminds you not to forget about the people who are.

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Nepo Baby of the Week: Is Malia Obama's Film Debut Any Good? - The Daily Beast

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If President Bidens approval doesnt rebound soon, the Democrats may try to replace him with former First Lady Michelle Obama. Thats according to an article in the New York Post.

New York Post columnist Cindy Adams reports that former President Barack Obama, is polling donors to get their thoughts.

Obamas team has sent surveys to some of the big donors inside the Democratic Party, asking for their views.

But the Post says the schedule to replace Biden is no longer in the summer, but the timeline has moved up between March and May of this year.

Adams warned in a piece published Wednesday that Americans shouldnt be shocked if Michelle Obama sneaks her way into the 2024 race.

The rumor about Michelle Obama occurred after her husband Barack met with Biden in December of last year, where the the Wall Street Journal reported that Obama is among those on the left who fear a return of Trump to the presidency.

If Michelle Obama launches a candidacy for the 2024 presidential election, its a whole new ballgame, said former Fox TV host and current Sirius XM radio host Megyn Kelly.

On her radio show, Kelly said Michelle Obama is more talented than Joe Biden is politically.

Whether it works this time, as a pundit, I remain skeptical, said Kelly.

In September of 2023, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex) said he believed Michelle Obama could be parachuted in at the Democratic National Convention this August and at the last moment, she would save the day.

Still, the speculation of Biden running this year remains a hot topic on talk radio. Bidens advisers say its a guarantee he is running, but others have their doubts.

JPMorgan strategist Michael Cembalest listed his list of Ten Surprises for 2024, and one of those was Biden will not run for re-election.

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Will The Democrats Replace Biden With Michelle Obama? - Florida Daily

OPINION:

Three years into President Bidens presidency, the continuation of the Obama administrations Iran policy getting money to the mullahs and relaxing sanctions in hopes of friendship has resulted in disaster: Three American soldiers were killed over the weekend in a drone attack by Tehran-backed militias.

Iran is wreaking havoc across the Middle East. The regimes proxies are striking U.S. assets and personnel in Iraq, in Syria, and off the coast of Yemen. They are striking Israel from the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. The entire region is on the verge of a wider war.

All of this was avoidable. The Trump administration had Iran contained through its maximum pressure policy. But the Biden administration has snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. The lax enforcement of sanctions in particular has boosted Irans revenue and widened its access to its foreign currency reserves.

Since Mr. Biden took office in 2021, Iran has exported over $100 billion in oil. According to United Against Nuclear Irans Tanker Trackers database, oil exports increased from around 800 thousand barrels per day on average under President Donald Trump to 1.4 million barrels per day on average in 2023.

Not surprisingly, this relaxed sanction enforcement has benefited Irans proxies. In the case of the Houthis, Tehran facilitates a Yemeni oil-smuggling network to sell Iranian oil, transferring the proceeds to the Houthis through Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned this network while targeting other figures associated with the Houthis in recent weeks.

But these are half measures. As long as significant oil revenue keeps coming in, significant funds will continue to flow to the regimes proxies.

But oil money is not the only problem. Irans non-oil exports have also skyrocketed. From March 2022 to March 2023, the regime exported over $53 billion in non-oil goods, a significant increase from $35 billion two years earlier. An alarming percentage of this flows to Iraq, which serves as a hub for sanctions evasion and money laundering for Tehran.

Over the years, the Treasury Department has targeted networks of Iraqi companies and nationals that have been working with the IRGC Quds Force in Iraq to facilitate the financing of terrorism and money laundering. Again, this has been insufficient. Iran-backed militant groups continue to accumulate cash and influence.

These funds also translate directly to violence. With funding and weapons supplied by Iran, these militias have attacked U.S. bases more than 150 times since Mr. Biden took office. Remarkably, most of these attacks have gone unanswered.

The problem is not just one of deterrence. The real problem is the Biden administrations refusal to acknowledge the unraveling of the Iran policy that originated under President Barack Obama. Last year, Washington granted Iran access to $6 billion of its frozen reserves in South Korea and over $12 billion in gas and electricity export revenue in Iraq.

That greater access to cash afforded by the Biden administration has led directly to an increase in funding that Iran provides to its regional allies and proxies. Israeli sources assert that Iran increased its funding of Hamas last year from $100 million to $350 million. The Telegraph reported that Iran has invested more money to foment violence out of Yemen, recruiting and paying Houthi fighters $100 a month or more in an impoverished country. This is in addition to the lethal weapons and military equipment Tehran sends to the Houthis either by sea or through Oman.

All of this has enabled Iran and its proxies to spark a Middle Eastern war that only seems to be intensifying. This is posing a direct threat to the lives of U.S. military personnel in Iraq, in Syria, and off the coast of Yemen. This has also threatened the populations of Israel, Jordan, Egypt and other nations. It has seriously encumbered global energy security and shipping, which is inexorably leading to domestic and global inflation. More broadly, it undermines the U.S.-led global order.

The Biden administration must make immediate changes to its policy to curtail Irans capacity for chaos. A two-pronged approach is urgently needed. This involves reducing the military capabilities of Tehran and its proxies by striking back at the proxies that strike American bases and warships and also intensifying economic warfare through stringent enforcement of U.S. sanctions.

But even if the U.S. begins to change course, a wider acknowledgment is needed. President Biden must understand that the Middle East will never see peace as long as the regime in Tehran remains in place. The downfall of the Islamic Republic is achievable. It can be done through a combination of maximum pressure on the regime and maximum support for the Iranian people.

Saeed Ghasseminejad is a senior adviser on Iran at Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Follow him on X @SGhassemenijad.

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Biden won't acknowledge the failure of Obama's Iran strategy - Washington Times

President Joe Bidens 2024 reelection campaign is planning a fundraiser combining three recent Democratic presidents as his team looks to shore up support and expand their war chest going into the general election.

The Biden campaign is reportedly working on enlisting the help of former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton for an event alongside Biden, according to NBC News.

Officials on Bidens campaign reportedly hope the event manages not only to raise cash for the presidents reelection bid but also usher in headlines about the appearance of all three men together.

With the assistance of Clinton and Obama, the Biden team believes it can inspire more enthusiasm among voters at a time when concerns over support for Biden and running mate Vice President Kamala Harris have emerged in the face of poor poll numbers.

Bidens campaign did not provide comment to the Washington Examiner.

Representatives for the three presidents are discussing scheduling for a desired springtime fundraiser, according to the outlet. No date has been set yet, but the event is expected to be set for March or April.

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Without the high-profile fundraiser in the works, Biden managed to pull in $97 million for his reelection bid in the last quarter of 2023. As his team prepares for what promises to be a cutthroat general election competition, they are going into the matchup with a war chest of $117 million.

However, while Biden has proven his campaigns fundraising ability, the campaign is struggling to ramp up enthusiasm among Democratic and independent voters. Former President Donald Trump has taken advantage of this, expanding his lead over Biden in the RealClearPolitics polling average of the general election. Last week, Trump held a lead of several points over the president, 47.3% to 43%.

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Biden campaign planning fundraiser with Bill Clinton and Barack Obama ahead of 2024: Report - Washington Examiner