Memo to Trump administration spinmeisters: it’s time to stop inhaling greenhouse gases like nitrous oxide (also known as laughing gas), and start working to prevent them.
That was one of a range of reactions Tuesday, after a release from senior U.S. energy department officials referred to the country’s booming natural gas exports as “freedom gas” and “molecules of U.S. freedom”.
Under Secretary Mark Menezes and Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy Steven Winberg were speaking from the 25-country Clean Energy Ministerial in Vancouver, where they spent some of their time touting the Freeport natural gas terminal at Quintana Island.
“Increasing export capacity from the Freeport LNG project is critical to spreading freedom gas throughout the world by giving America’s allies a diverse and affordable source of clean energy,” said Menezes.
“I am pleased that the Department of Energy is doing what it can to promote an efficient regulatory system that allows for molecules of U.S. freedom to be exported to the world,” added Winberg.
Online mockery ensued.
“This has to be a joke. (Remember freedom fries?)” tweeted Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee, one of the many candidates for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, whose campaign has focused largely on the climate crisis.”Freedom gas?” Inslee added. “Freedom is generally good, but freedom from glaciers, freedom from clean air, freedom from healthy forests that aren’t on fire, and freedom from the world we know and cherish is not what we seek.” (h/t to The Energy Mix subscriber Bill Henderson for giving us a good laugh Wednesday by pointing us to this story)
