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u.s. news/world news Diaranson 28 september 2022

Leaks on Russian gas pipelines raise

concerns about sabotage

thing could happen to the Norwegian gas."
The extent of the damage means the Nord
Stream pipelines are unlikely to be able to
carry any gas to Europe this winter even if
there was political will to bring them online,
analysts at the Eurasia Group said.
They noted that undersea pipelines are de-
signed in a way that they are not accidentally
damaged and leaks are rare.
Biden's strategy to end hunger Puck Nielsen said of possible sabotage that
"technically speaking, this is not difficult. It
in US includes more benefits just requires a boat. It requires some divers
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A series of un- that know how to handle explosive devices."
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration usual leaks on two natural gas pipelines Asked if the leaks may have been caused by
is laying out its plan to meet an ambitious goal running from Russia under the Bal- sabotage, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov
of ending hunger in the U.S. by 2030, including tic Sea to Germany triggered concerns said "no version could be excluded."
expanding monthly benefits that help low-income about sabotage Tuesday, overshadowing The Danish and Swedish maritime authori-
ties issued navigation warnings after the leaks
Americans buy food. the inauguration of a long-awaited pipe-
line that will bring Norwegian gas to Po- in the pipelines were detected northeast and
The administration, in a plan released Tuesday, is also land in efforts to bolster Europe's energy southeast of the Danish island of Bornholm.
seeking to increase healthy eating and physical activity independence from Moscow. The Nord Stream pipelines have been at the
center of an energy clash between Europe
so that fewer people are afflicted with diabetes, obesity,
hypertension and other diet-related diseases. It said it Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Russia since the invasion of Ukraine in
would work to expand Medicaid and Medicare access to called the events "an act of sabotage," while late February. Plunging Russian gas supplies
obesity counseling and nutrition. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen have caused prices to soar, pressuring govern-
"The consequences of food insecurity and diet-related said she could not rule it out after three leaks ments to help ease the pain of sky-high en-
diseases are significant, far reaching, and disproportionately were detected over the past day on the Nord ergy bills for households and businesses as
impact historically underserved communities," Biden Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, which are filled with winter nears. The crisis also has raised fears
wrote in a memo outlining the White House strategy. gas but not delivering the fuel to Europe. An of rationing and recession.
"Yet, food insecurity and diet-related diseases are largely energy standoff over Russia's war in Ukraine The Baltic Pipe is a prominent element in
preventable, if we prioritize the health of the nation." halted flows on Nord Stream 1 and prevented the European Union's search for energy se-
Biden is hosting a conference this week on hunger, them from ever starting in the parallel Nord curity and is to start bringing Norwegian gas
nutrition and health, the first by the White House since Stream 2. through Denmark and along the Baltic Sea to
1969. That conference, under President Richard Nixon, Frederiksen, Morawiecki and Polish Presi- Poland on Oct. 1.
was a pivotal moment that influenced the U.S. food dent Andrzej Duda symbolically opened a Simone Tagliapietra, an energy expert with
policy agenda for 50 years. It led to a greatly expanded valve of a yellow pipe belonging to the Baltic the Bruegel think tank in Brussels, said the
food stamps program and gave rise to the Women, Infants Pipe, a new system that will bring Norway's leaks "can't be a coincidence" and speculated
and Children program, which serves half the babies born gas across Denmark and the Baltic Sea to Po- they could have been caused by Russian sabo-
in the U.S. by providing women with parenting advice, land. No official presented evidence of what tage or anti-Russian sabotage.
breastfeeding support and food assistance. caused the Nord Stream problems, but in One possibility is Russia signaling it "is break-
Over the years, cuts to federal programs coupled with central Europe, where distrust of Russia runs ing forever with Western Europe and Ger-
stigmas over welfare and big changes to how food and high, there were fears Moscow sabotaged its many" as Poland inaugurates its pipeline with
farming systems are run have prompted declines in access own infrastructure out of spite or to warn Norway, he said.
to food. that all pipelines are vulnerable to attack. The Polish energy expert Andrzej Sikora said he
Biden, a Democrat, is hoping this week's conference leaks emerged off the coast of Denmark and has been warning of the possibility of attacks
is similarly transformative. But the goal of Nixon, a Sweden, raising the stakes on whether energy on pipeline infrastructure since the construc-
Republican, also was "to put an end to hunger in America infrastructure in European waters was being tion of Nord Stream 1 in 2010. The signifi-
for all time." targeted and leading to a small bump in natu- cant drop in pressure caused by the leaks was
And yet 10% of U.S. households in 2021 suffered food ral gas prices. clearly not the result of "a bad weld," said
insecurity, meaning they were uncertain they could get Anders Puck Nielsen, a researcher with the Sikora, head of the Energy Studies Institute
enough food to feed themselves or their families because Center for Maritime Operations at the Royal think tank.
they lacked money or resources for food, according to the Danish Defence College, said the timing of He has been urging steps to ensure the se-
Food and Drug Administration. the leaks was "conspicuous" given the cer- curity of the Baltic Pipe, which at one point
To succeed, Biden needs buy-in from the private sector emony for the Baltic Pipe. He said perhaps crosses paths with both Nord Stream pipe-
and an increasingly partisan Congress. Some of the goals someone sought "to send a signal that some- lines.
sound reminiscent of former first lady Michelle Obama's
Let's Move initiative to tackle childhood obesity and
promote healthy eating. The conference also will highlight
the need for access to better, healthier food and exercise.
Biden said in his memo that over the past 50 years, "we
have learned so much more about nutrition and the role
that healthy eating plays in how our kids perform in the
classroom and about nutrition and its linkages to disease
prevention."
Under to the White House plan, Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program eligibility would be expanded,
children would get better access to free meals, and
summer benefits would be extended to more schoolkids.
Such changes would require congressional approval.
The other tenets of the strategy include the development
of new food packaging to truth-check the "healthy"
claims for some products, expanding SNAP incentives to
select fruits and vegetables, providing more programs to
encourage people to get outside and move, and boosting
funding for research.