Last Thursday, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) set stiffer standards for the construction of new gas pipelines and export terminals. The timing could not be more unfortunate - few day later Putin attacked independent Ukraine, anticipating that the West will provide only a weak response, partly due to the reliance on Russian natural gas.

The new pipelines and terminals would open new markets to US producers and, crucially, allow the European allies to gain an energy supply independent of Putin's regime. It will be a win-win situation for US and Europe also in economic terms, as the US gas is almost 10x cheaper than recent European spot prices.

The FERC must reconsider the standards - specifically, it must reinterpret the "public interest" to include also increasing the security of US and its NATO allies by eliminating one of Putin's few weapons.