WELL, YES: Increasing LNG Permits Is Critical to Sanctioning Russia.

Last month, the Biden administration took aim at its own domestic energy export capabilities by halting all permits for new LNG projects—effectively banning future exports. This came in sharp contrast to the administration’s recent sanctions on shipments of Russian gas from the Arctic LNG 2 terminal. While our allies have already pledged to reduce their Russian gas dependency, this shift hinged on the United States’ ability to promptly supply their alternative.

Japan, the world’s leading LNG importer, which was already in a precarious position due to its reliance on anticipated supplies from Russia’s sanctioned Arctic LNG 2, is now facing an all-out energy crisis. Top Japanese power generator JERA said they expect the suspension “could affect the LNG security not only for us, but also for Japan and the world.”

Our allies have cause for concern over President Biden’s LNG moratorium, especially at a time when exporters want to add fifty percent capacity by 2026 to meet global demand. The Department of Energy (DOE) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) under President Biden have been notoriously slow in processing permits for LNG exporters—setting the stage for this moratorium. The current eleven-month average processing time under Biden contrasts sharply with the seven-week time frame under the Trump administration and even the six-month duration under Obama.

The Biden Cabal couldn’t figure out how to slam the brakes on American domestic oil production but they’ve certainly put the squeeze on LNG.

RAYMOND IBRAHIM: Who Is Really Behind the Moscow Terror Attack? “There are some overlooked points to consider — especially concerning this last observation — that do lend weight to the view that ISIS is behind the attack.”

FACE, MEET PALM: North Sea oil rigs threatened with shutdown unless they start running on green electricity.

Currently, more than 280 platforms extracting oil and gas from UK waters produce 3pc of the country’s total emissions, the equivalent of about 17 million tonnes of CO2 a year.

However, UK oil and gas fields also account for half of the country’s energy needs.

Despite this, the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), which regulates the offshore sector, has told producers that they must convert platforms to run on green electricity or low-carbon fuels.

This means all new developments before 2030 must be designed to run on electricity, while all those after that must be fully electrified from the start.

Critics say the new demands will deliver a fatal blow to many of the older platforms operating around British shores.

Some date back to the 1970s or 1980s and would be hugely expensive to decarbonise.

You have to give climate panicmongers credit, if that’s the right word, for being endlessly imaginative in their efforts to regulate wealth and happiness out of existence.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: I Want to Get My Hands on Some of That ‘Migrant’ Money. “The only plan Biden and the Democrats have for dealing with the crisis seems to be to blame Republicans. The line goes that they’re not giving Biden what he needs to undo his own mess. That’s ludicrous, of course, but the Dems’ media mouthpieces sell the fiction hard.”

THOUGHTS ON the ugly art of Richard Serra. “The man just died, so I’ll keep this brief. I have been tired for decades of this version of the story — the grand artist against the office deplorables. Imagine the workers, wanting to enjoy ‘their precious open space.’ I worked in one of those courthouses for a year during the period when the sculpture bisected the space, and I know how it felt to people who spent their working hours in its vicinity.”

Public art, for basically the entirety of my life, has looked as if it was created in order to demoralize the public, rather than uplift it. Quoth Serra: “I don’t think it is the function of art to be pleasing. Art is not democratic. It is not for the people.”

Except to pay for it, of course. That’s their role. Know your place, peasants! Well, it was a good grift.

Plus, from the comments: “As usual the artist is an egomaniac with a crippling inferiority complex.”

AND HAMAS SUPPORTERS ARE ALWAYS TALKING ABOUT A “HUMANITARIAN CRISIS.” IF YOU’RE A HAMAS SUPPORTER, YOU’RE NO HUMANITARIAN.

HATRED OF ISRAEL MAKES PEOPLE LOSE THEIR RATIONAL FACULTIES: I’ve never thought that Nicholas Kristof is any sort of genius, but this is really embarrassing. Doing some quick math, that would be a line of about 415 miles of 18 wheelers, assuming no space between them. In what world did Kristof think this was possible?

HE WOULD HAVE MADE A GOOD PRESIDENT AND MAYBE HE STILL WILL:

The GOP has some solid governors but none as proactive as DeSantis.

DON SURBER: Mutiny on the MSNBC: Ronna Romney McDaniel learns sabotaging Trump won’t save you. “The public humiliation of Ronna, which may have been orchestrated all along, is another head on a pike for Democrats and RINOs. They have gone from Stage 1 (destroy Trump) and Stage 2 (destroy his supporters) to Stage 3 (destroy those who even appear to support Trump).”

As Stacy McCain once said, at some point you have to join the team that you’re on.

BUT TALK OF “WHITE SUPREMACISTS,” “WHITE RAGE,” AND “CHRISTIAN NATIONALISTS” IS STILL OKAY, POSSIBLY EVEN MANDATORY: US Intel Agency Wants To Ban Terms ‘Radical Islamists’ and ‘Jihadist’ Because They’re Hurtful to Muslim Americans: Office of the Director of National Intelligence also instructs employees to avoid ‘blacklisted,’ ‘cakewalk,’ and ‘sanity check.’

Whose side is the “intelligence community” on? Certainly not that of intelligence . . . .

J.D. TUCCILLE: Free Speech Is Under Attack in the U.S., but It’s on the Ropes Elsewhere.

On the plus side were some strengthened protections for press freedom and protest. Of course, the press must operate under all those restrictions on “hate speech,” and protests are subject to curbs when governments find their subjects too sensitive or just inconvenient.

The Free Speech Recession Hits Home records attacks on free speech in the U.S., as elsewhere. But this country, importantly, has a strong free speech culture and real constitutional protections. America is third on Justitia’s index of public support for free speech (after Norway and Denmark), and restrictive laws and government schemes to suppress speech are often voided on First Amendment grounds.

That’s no guarantee that every attempt to muzzle the public will fail or that the courts will diligently apply the First Amendment. But it’s enough of an advantage to dishearten the world’s would-be censors.

“The genie is already out of the bottle and there is little likelihood of getting it back in,” moans The Globe and Mail’s Lawrence Martin about U.S. speech protections. “The greater likelihood is that extremes of free speech will continue to be tolerated.”

Read the whole thing.

FEVERS ARE DANGEROUS, BUT THEY DO COMBAT INFECTION:  Fever.