Executives from some of the world's biggest energy companies slammed the natural gas policies of the Biden/Harris administration at this week's GasTech Conference in Houston as an Energy Department official pushed back against the barrage of criticism.

Chevron CEO Michael Wirth appeared to criticize the administration's numerous moves to restrict and hamper drilling for and exporting US natural gas when he said, "We can double down on the "either/or" approach that dominates today's discourse, which too often pits people and solutions against each other. Or we can evolve toward an "all-in" approach that recognizes many solutions are needed." Wirth went onto express his belief that "economic prosperity, energy security and environmental protection is an achievable goal, not a zero-sum struggle." It's a view that has become increasingly unpopular among environmentalists as the war on fossil fuels by western governments, including the Biden/Harris White House, has grown more intense in recent years.

Cheniere Energy CEO Jack Fusco, whose company has been forced to endure a moratorium on federal permitting for new LNG export facilities this year thanks to an executive order issued in January by President Joe Biden, warned the government-forced energy transition will take longer to evolve than currently expected. Fusco added his belief that climate alarm advocates do not understand how energy systems really work.

"I think there's a misconception that you can replace base-loaded, coal-fired power plants with renewables," Fusco said. "You can't. You can't start your oven or your hair dryer or your dishwasher on renewable power," due to the intermittent nature of wind and solar generation.

ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance repeated the industry's frequent warning that the pace of issuing permits for energy infrastructure projects is far too slow, saying, "We absolutely need permitting reform, and we need more infrastructure." Obviously, a year-long moratorium on LNG permitting works in direct opposition to that goal.

DOE assistant secretary for fossil energy and carbon management Brad Crabtree told the GasTech audience he is "very concerned" about the enduring permitting delays that impact renewable projects as well as those for traditional forms of energy. But he added he is "thrilled by the scope and pace of what we're doing" to reduce carbon emissions.

Wirth pointed to the voracious energy needs of rapidly expanding data centers for AI technology as a reason for DOE and the White House to refocus on expanding natural gas development instead of restricting it with moratoriums and heavy regulatory actions. "Natural gas is driving down carbon emissions worldwide - as more countries displace coal in electricity generation," he said, adding that, "natural gas will help power the rapid growth of Artificial Intelligence - with its insatiable demand for reliable electricity. Which means AI's advance will depend not only on the design labs of Silicon Valley, but also on the gas fields of the Permian Basin" where Chevron is one of the largest producers of both natural gas and crude oil.

Coincidentally, on the same day this debate over the future of natural gas in power generation was happening in Houston, a consortium of major technology companies, infrastructure developers, and investment houses announced a joint $100 billion effort to encourage and invest in rapid build-out of new power infrastructure. BlackRock, Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), Microsoft, and MGX announced the Global AI Infrastructure Investment Partnership (GAIIP) which will invest in "new and expanded data centers to meet growing demand for computing power, as well as energy infrastructure to create new sources of power for these facilities."

In its release, the group says the majority of the envisioned projects would be mounted in the US, with the remainder to be allocated to what it calls US partner countries. The commitment is for an initial $30 billion capital commitment from private equity investors which the consortium says "will mobilize up to $100 billion in total investment potential when including debt financing."

"There is a clear need to mobilize significant amounts of private capital to fund investments in essential infrastructure. One manifestation of this is the capital required to support the development of AI," said Bayo Ogunlesi, Chairman and CEO of Global Infrastructure Partners. "We are highly confident that the combined capabilities of our partnership will help accelerate the pace of investments in AI-related infrastructure."

While the group's announcement advocates for a focus on emissions reductions as an area of emphasis in its plans, it makes no mention of an effort discriminate between specific sources of generation. That seemingly energy-agnostic positioning is not surprising given that data centers require consistent, 24/7 power generation that is not reliant on the weather or sunshine.

No doubt Mr. Wirth and other executives who spoke at Gastech this week envision their natural gas production will play a major role in the provision of the power needs for AI as it evolves in our society. In a normal, consistent regulatory and permitting environment, natural gas plants can be developed far more rapidly and at a fraction of the up-front cost than either coal or nuclear facilities.

This need for speed and power generation reliability would seem to favor natural gas as a major player in supplying AI's power needs. The positioning of the Biden/Harris administration and its regulatory agenda could present major challenges in that regard. It seems apparent that the outcome of the presidential contest between former president Donald Trump and vice president Kamala Harris will have a major impact on the progress of the AI evolution.