WSJ REPOST: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday described “energy diplomacy” as a driving force behind U.S. foreign policy and offered a spirited defense of the Obama administration’s foreign-policy record. She also took swipes at rivals, including China and Russia, which she said have used energy as a geopolitical or trade weapon. “Fundamentally, energy is an issue of wealth and power, which means it can be a source of both conflict and cooperation,” she said in a speech at Georgetown University that came a year after the creation of the Bureau of Energy Resources at the State Department. Its role is to put oil, natural gas, electricity and clean-energy issues at the center of American foreign policy.
Republican critics said administration actions belied Mrs. Clinton’s rhetoric. “Secretary Clinton may believe in ‘energy diplomacy,’ but her boss does not,” said Ryan Williams, a Romney campaign spokesman. He said President Barack Obama’s limits on the Keystone XL pipeline harmed America’s relationship with Canada and threatened access to its oil, and that he is stalling an important energy pact with Mexico.
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