\u201cPresident Trump is unleashing a new era of cooperation for Central and Eastern Europe,\u201d Wright said in a news release. \u201cThese partnerships are rooted in our mutual support for an energy addition agenda\u2014more jobs, more opportunity, and more investment.\u201d<\/p>\n
The announcement came this week at the Three Seas Initiative Summit in Dubrovnik, Croatia, a gathering of 13 nations surrounding the Baltic, Black and Adriatic seas.\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to the Department of Energy, the United States now produces as much natural gas as Russia, China and Iran combined<\/a>, while leading the world in LNG exports. The department said LNG exports are on track to \u201cmore than double\u201d over the next decade.\u00a0<\/p>\n But that gas carries a steep environmental toll on many fronts. The gas comes primarily from fracking wells. It must be supercooled to -161 degrees Celsius to reach a liquid state for transport, a highly energy-intensive process. Then it is typically shipped on tankers thousands of miles across the globe. Methane, a potent greenhouse gas, leaks at nearly every step of the process.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2024, Cornell University professor Robert Howarth found that only 34 percent of LNG\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions come from burning the fuel to generate electricity, with the rest occurring earlier in the process. Howarth concluded that LNG\u2019s carbon footprint \u201cequals or exceeds that of coal.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n LNG export terminal construction has significantly contributed to localized pollution in places like Louisiana.\u00a0<\/p>\n James Hiatt, a former oil refinery worker who founded the environmental group For a Better Bayou in 2023, said the construction of new export terminals in coastal Louisiana is dramatically impacting life in those areas. He said air pollution, siltation from dredging, heavy tanker traffic and other problems are devastating a community that receives little benefit from the industry due to local tax incentives offered to developers. Fishermen in the area have blamed LNG activity for declining fish and shrimp harvests<\/a> in recent years.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re paying more and more to be polluted and dumped upon and get no benefit from it,\u201d Hiatt said. \u201cWe don\u2019t talk about climate here much, but the reality is, the more we extract carbon from underground and add it to the atmosphere, the more chaos we will see.\u201d<\/p>\n The consumer advocacy group Public Citizen says LNG exports also contribute to rising U.S. energy costs<\/a> by putting the country\u2019s gas reserves up for sale to the highest international bidder.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s really not good for the working people of this country,\u201d Hiatt said. \u201cIt might be good for a few wealthy folks, but it\u2019s not good for America. It\u2019s more like \u2018America Last\u2019 policy, not \u2018America First.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n This story is funded by readers like you.<\/p>\n Our nonprofit newsroom provides award-winning climate coverage free of charge and advertising. We rely on donations from readers like you to keep going. Please donate now to support our work.<\/p>\n Donate Now<\/a> <\/p>\n The European Three Seas agreements announced Wednesday<\/a> include a memorandum of understanding to advance pipelines and other energy infrastructure in Central and Eastern Europe; a statement of support for a pipeline between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina; a joint statement between the U.S. and Croatia to enhance nuclear technology in the country through small modular reactors; the announcement of Project Pantheon, a $50 billion data center project developed by a U.S. company in Croatia; and a statement of intent by Westinghouse Electric Co. to launch a design study for a small modular nuclear plant in Slovakia.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Much of the region previously depended on Russia for natural gas, and much of it still runs on Russian gas transported through Turkey since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.\u00a0<\/p>\n U.S. oil companies have increasingly stepped in to fill the void, according to Ana Maria Jaller-Makarewicz, lead energy analyst for the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis in Europe.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jaller-Makarewicz and IEEFA developed the North American LNG Export Tracker<\/a>, which monitors global LNG shipments, and the EU Gas Flows Tracker<\/a>, which follows European natural gas sources.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to the group, U.S. LNG exports to Europe have nearly tripled since Russian President Vladimir Putin\u2019s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, rising from 2.51 million metric tons that month to 6.16 million metric tons in December 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIn 2022, we were depending almost 50 percent from only one supplier [Russia] on gas, and that already created a big crisis in Europe,\u201d Jaller-Makarewicz told Inside Climate News.\u00a0<\/p>\n Since then, she said, Europe has pursued two paths to reduce dependence on Russia. One is to diversify by adding LNG imports to the mix, and the other aims to reduce consumption through efficiency and increased use of renewable energy. She said the EU is on the verge of trading a dependency on Russian gas for a dependency on U.S.-produced LNG, and should consider investing in localized renewable energy sources rather than focusing solely on LNG.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s expensive and it\u2019s not offering us any security supply,\u201d she said. \u201cRight now, our LNG dependency is our weakest point.\u201d<\/p>\n Jaller-Makarewicz said U.S. LNG is not always guaranteed, with shipments sometimes rerouted to Asia or delayed to fetch a better price before delivery.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are becoming more fragile, more dependent on external factors,\u201d she said. \u201cThe only thing we can control is our demand. We cannot control the supply.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tAbout This Story<\/p>\n Perhaps you noticed: This story, like all the news we publish, is free to read. That\u2019s because Inside Climate News is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. We do not charge a subscription fee, lock our news behind a paywall, or clutter our website with ads. We make our news on climate and the environment freely available to you and anyone who wants it.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not all. We also share our news for free with scores of other media organizations around the country. Many of them can\u2019t afford to do environmental journalism of their own. We\u2019ve built bureaus from coast to coast to report local stories, collaborate with local newsrooms and co-publish articles so that this vital work is shared as widely as possible.<\/p>\n Two of us launched ICN in 2007. Six years later we earned a Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting, and now we run the oldest and largest dedicated climate newsroom in the nation. We tell the story in all its complexity. We hold polluters accountable. We expose environmental injustice. We debunk misinformation. We scrutinize solutions and inspire action.<\/p>\n Donations from readers like you fund every aspect of what we do. If you don\u2019t already, will you support our ongoing work, our reporting on the biggest crisis facing our planet, and help us reach even more readers in more places? <\/p>\n Please take a moment to make a tax-deductible donation. Every one of them makes a difference.<\/p>\n Thank you,<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Dennis-Pillion-300x300.jpg\"\/)
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