US President Declares War on Coal

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3. U.S. Hopes Boom in Natural Gas Can Curb Putin

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/06/world/europe/us-seeks-to-reduce-ukraines-reliance-on-russia-for-natural-gas.html?_r=0

WASHINGTON — The crisis in Crimea is heralding the rise of a new era of American energy diplomacy, as the Obama administration tries to deploy the vast new supply of natural gas in the United States as a weapon to undercut the influence of the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, over Ukraine and Europe.

The crisis has escalated a State Department initiative to use a new boom in American natural gas supplies as a lever against Russia, which supplies 60 percent of Ukraine’s natural gas and has a history of cutting off the supply during conflicts. This week, Gazprom, Russia’s state-run natural gas company, said it would no longer provide gas at a discount rate to Ukraine, a move reminiscent of more serious Russian cutoffs of natural gas to Ukraine and elsewhere in Europe in 2006, 2008 and 2009.

And then you have Vice President Biden: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-horn/vice-president-joe-biden_b_5201051.html

With the ongoing Russian occupation of Crimea serving as the backdrop for the trip, Biden made Vladimir Putin's Russia and its dominance of the global gas market one of the centerpieces of a key speech he gave while in Kiev.

"And as you attempt to pursue energy security, there's no reason why you cannot be energy secure. I mean there isn't. It will take time. It takes some difficult decisions, but it's collectively within your power and the power of Europe and the United States," Biden said.

"And we stand ready to assist you in reaching that. Imagine where you'd be today if you were able to tell Russia: Keep your gas. It would be a very different world you'd be facing today."

The U.S. oil and gas industry has long lobbied to "weaponize" its fracking prowess to fend off Russian global gas market dominance. It's done so primarily in two ways.

Quite the status quo there