In January, the Biden administration unveiled three new energy initiatives. The one most publicized by the administration was a freeze on new LNG (liquified natural gas) export terminal permits.

LNG had been going great guns in the US. In 2013, the US exported no gas, ceding that market to leaders Qatar and Australia. But by 2023, the US was tops with a 25% market share. What’s more, the US was able to fill in much of the gas lost to Europe when it boycotted Russian exports after it invaded Ukraine.

When Biden announced the freeze, he cited climate change concerns as the main reason, which many saw as an attempt to shore up support among young people in an election year.

But that move is only mildly popular among young people. Just 36% of voters aged 18-29 want the US to export less gas than it does now, perhaps sensing that US gas is a relatively clean fossil fuel compared to what importers might use to replace it, such as dirtier gas or local coal.

Meanwhile, Biden had an energy policy that plays much better with that age cohort. More than 70% approved of his $1.5bb loan to a shuttered Michigan nuclear plant, and wanted to see more like it.

Biden’s age may or may not diminish his capacities, but in this case it looked like the generation gap caused him to promote the wrong policy. Boomers remember Three Mile Island and Chernobyl like only those who lived through them can.

Biden needs a better informed PR team if he wants to garner more support among Gen Z.