The Morning: Biden’s energy balancing act

Plus, the Supreme Court, Mitch McConnell and surrealism.

View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story February 29, 2024 Good morning. The last few years have been great for energy production. In today's newsletter, my colleague Jim Tankersley, an economics correspondent in Washington, explains why you don't hear President Biden talking much about the boom. — David Leonhardt By Jim Tankersley We're also covering the Supreme Court, Mitch McConnell and surrealism. A natural gas flare near Pecos, Texas Paul Ratje A muffled boom A junior White House economist made a chart last year — the sort of chart that previous presidents might have put in a campaign ad. It shows that U.S. energy production, from wind and solar to oil and gas, has boomed under President Biden. The nation is closer than ever to a goal that presidents have pursued for decades: true energy independence. The Times has recreated the chart, using the same data: Source: Ryan Cummings, Energy Information Administration | Data goes through November 2023. | By The New York Times The Biden administration has never published that chart. The president isn't bragging about record oil and gas production. His reluctance highlights a political problem for him and other Democrats. Biden wants to phase out oil and gas eventually to fight global warming. But domestic oil and gas production is expanding on his watch. That brings political benefits: It helps reduce energy costs, and polls show Americans largely support it. But more drilling also means more pollution — and more fury from young progressive voters. "It is a tough balancing act," said Ryan Cummings, the economist who created the energy chart. "You want to reduce emissions, but you need a bridge to get there." Frack, baby, frack Republicans and fossil-fuel groups have accused Biden of waging "war" on American energy because he wants to halt America's greenhouse gas emissions in a quarter century. But no president has overseen energy production like Biden has. He loves to talk about part of that story: how the United States is producing more power from renewables, including a surge in solar power accelerated by the climate law he signed in 2022. It's the other half of the story he shies away from: the increased production of oil and natural gas. For decades, America's oil wells seemed to be slowly drying up. The country's daily oil production fell by half from the early 1970s to the 2008 financial crisis. Oil imports rose. Hydraulic fracturing — fracking, a process that allows drillers to access oil and gas reserves that were previously too expensive to tap — changed that. Production rebounded. It reached record highs when Donald Trump was president. The United States was suddenly selling more oil than any other country and exporting more than it imported. Under Biden's watch, the U.S. broke that record last fall. The country also set records for natural gas output. In the first half of 2023, the United States was the world's largest exporter of liquefied natural gas. Those developments have strengthened Biden's hand in foreign policy: Europe has been able to replace much of the gas it once imported from Russia during the war in Ukraine. And oil prices have stayed relatively low, even as Saudi Arabia and other countries cut production to increase profits. The political bind But all that production has brought Biden grief from environmental groups, which successfully pushed America to join nearly 200 nations last year in agreeing to phase out fossil fuels. Climate activists are a key plank of Biden's liberal base. So are young voters — and polls show that climate change is among the most important issues motivating them this year. Under pressure from those groups, Biden said last month that he would pause approval of new natural-gas export terminals. But other Democrats, including a new Democratic polling group called Blueprint, have pushed Biden to tout record drilling. They say it will help him attract independent voters — the sort of people past candidates wooed with promises of energy independence. In one way, Biden has embraced the drilling boom: gasoline prices. He released oil from America's strategic reserve around the invasion of Ukraine. He has since boasted that the move helped reduce gas prices that hit $5 a gallon in June 2022. In private conversations, Biden and his team can be frank. They say that keeping oil and gas flowing in the short term can ease the path to a no-emission energy future by shielding working-class consumers from high prices that might turn them against climate policies. Biden told me as much in 2021, when I asked at a news conference about the tension between his efforts to lower gas prices and emissions at the same time. He said it was important to keep gas prices down because they had a "profound impact" on working-class families. "So," he added, "I don't see anything inconsistent with that." Related: Conservatives want the next Republican president to end restrictions on emissions and repeal Biden's signature climate law. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT THE LATEST NEWS Supreme Court The Supreme Court agreed to hear Trump's claim that he is immune from prosecution, delaying a federal criminal case involving his actions on Jan 6. The court scheduled arguments for late April. The court's decision to hear the case reduces the chances of a verdict in the criminal trial before Election Day. Trump's actions suggest he wants to delay the trial. Read Alan Feuer's analysis. In a separate case, an Illinois judge ordered Trump's name removed from the state's primary ballot over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The Supreme Court's ruling on whether states can disqualify Trump is pending. The court seemed split over a challenge to a Trump-era ban on bump stocks, attachments that let semiautomatic rifles fire at speeds rivaling machine guns. Mitch McConnell Senator Mitch McConnell Kenny Holston/The New York Times "It's time for the next generation": Mitch McConnell will step down after November as the Senate Republican leader, a position he has held for a record 17 years. McConnell had a serious fall last year and has had episodes where he momentarily froze in front of the media. His support for more aid to Ukraine, leadership style and relationship with Trump have left him out of step with his party. Three Johns — Thune, Cornyn and Barrasso — top the list of his potential replacements. The late night hosts discussed McConnell's decision. Congress Congressional leaders reached a deal on a short-term spending bill to avert a government shutdown this weekend. Senate Republicans blocked a bill that would protect I.V.F. and other fertility treatments nationwide after Alabama's top court ruled that frozen embryos are children. Migration The border in Arizona. Rebecca Noble for The New York Times Illegal crossings have fallen in the last month, but the migrant crisis still defines life on the border. Read about residents and workers in Arizona. Trump and Biden will both visit the Texas border today, a rare convergence on the campaign trail. Republican lawmakers in Georgia are pushing to toughen immigration detention laws after the murder of a college student. More on Politics A judge rejected Trump's offer of a $100 million bond as he tries to pause the $454 million penalty in his civil fraud case. Trump said he might have to sell properties to pay. Hunter Biden denied involving his father in his business and criticized Republicans' impeachment inquiry as a "political pursuit" in closed-door testimony. Biden's allies are optimistic that no other Democratic primary will present the same challenges as Michigan, where the "uncommitted" option drew over 100,000 votes after a protest campaign over his handling of the war in Gaza. Israel-Hamas War The Gazan health ministry said more than 30,000 people had been killed in the war since Oct. 7. The ministry's toll does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Many experts say it may be an undercount. Dozens of family members of hostages held by Hamas began a four-day march from the Gaza border to Jerusalem, pushing for Israeli leaders to reach a deal to release them. Israeli reservists are returning from the war to a divided country. Inspired by the unity they experienced in the army, many are organizing for political change. A U.S. airman lit himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy this week to protest the war. Read about his road from an isolated Christian community to leftist and anarchist activism. International Near Avdiivka, Ukraine. Lynsey Addario for The New York Times Russia's capture of the city of Avdiivka shifted the front line in Ukraine westward. Nearby, farmers, miners and their families are poised to flee. Ghana's Parliament passed a bill that would jail people who identify as L.G.B.T.Q. or organize gay advocacy groups. Business Apple spent a decade working on a car before the project was killed this week. Internal disagreements meant the effort sputtered for years. Biden has ordered an investigation into security threats from Chinese electric cars with internet connectivity. The F.A.A. asked Boeing for a "comprehensive action plan" on quality control after a panel came off one of the company's jets in flight last month. Other Big Stories Older Americans should get a dose of the latest Covid vaccine this spring, the C.D.C. recommended. Wildfires in Texas have consumed houses, burned vast ranch lands and forced evacuations across the Panhandle. Opinions Carlos Lozada read the 880-page plan that would guide a second Trump term. It treats the law as an obstacle to conservative power, he writes. Here is a column by Jamelle Bouie about the pressure on Trump to nationalize fetal personhood. Discover more of the insight you value in The Morning. The Times is filled with information and inspiration every day. So gain unlimited access to everything we offer — and save with this introductory offer. MORNING READS Josephine Carozzo celebrated her 100th and 24th birthday on Feb. 29, 1996.  Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times, via Getty Images Happy birthday: Leap day babies get to celebrate once every four years. Today is their day. Font nerds, rejoice: After 17 years of Calibri, Microsoft Word has a new default typeface: Aptos. Ice cream, oils and drinks: So many products were once infused with the cannabis-derived compound CBD. Has its moment passed? Lives Lived: The outsider artist Melvin Way began his career in the basement of a notorious and violent New York City homeless shelter. Some of his drawings are now in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. He died at 70. SPORTS College basketball: Caitlin Clark has broken the A.I.A.W. large school scoring record with a career total of 3,650. M.L.B.: The Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto impressed in his first spring training appearance. College football: The new playoff system could change again in two years; officials are homing in on a 14-team bracket. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT ARTS AND IDEAS James Baldwin  Jean-Regis Rouston/Roger Viollet via Getty Images A guide to Baldwin: James Baldwin wrote with grace across genres: essays, novels, short stories, songs, children's literature, drama, poetry, even screenplays. The author Robert Jones Jr. has advice for those seeking an entry point. His picks include: "Go Tell It on the Mountain," a semi-autobiographical account of the Black American journey from the South to the North. "Nearly biblical in its tenor, it is a kind of gospel." "Sonny's Blues," a novel about two brothers in Harlem, a teacher and a jazz pianist. "Baldwin explains to us, in ways that are wholly astonishing, the nature of music itself." "The Devil Finds Work," Baldwin's most underrated book, an essay collection about his love affair with movies. Read more recommendations. More on culture Surrealism revolutionized culture. This year, exhibitions around the world celebrate the movement's 100th birthday. The comedian Richard Lewis, known for his sarcastic stand-up and his starring role on "Curb Your Enthusiasm," died at 76. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Linda Xiao for the New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini. Stir together a high-comfort, low-fuss lemony pearl barley soup. Play a game with the family. Buy a smart smoke detector. GAMES Here is today's Spelling Bee. Yesterday's pangram was backroom. And here are today's Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku and Connections. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. P.S. Today's print front page is the last to be drawn by Tom Bodkin, The Times's chief creative officer, who is retiring after 46 years. Tom has regularly designed the paper's front page over the decades, always by hand, using pencil on green paper. Here is today's version: Tom Bodkin/The New York Times Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. 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