Green New Deal energy policies are prolonging war and over time, constitute the real “existential threat” to free societies in their struggle with powerful autocracies.
A nation’s industrial base and military prowess is dependent on reasonably priced fossil fuels, to run and to grow. To think otherwise invites economic and geopolitical suicide.
Once again, the real “existential threat” to Western Civilization is doing away with the very fossil fuels that are driving the global economy.
The ability of Russia to wage war on Ukraine and for Iran to war against Israel depends almost entirely on both nations’ selling (sanctioned) oil to China, their biggest customer. The Biden-Harris Administration, in particular, does not enforce so-called “secondary sanctions” on Russian and Iranian oil, as they believe, rightly, that further increases in gas prices at the pump would hinder their re-election chances in November.
Taking substantial amounts of Russian and Iranian oil and gas off the global market is viewed by elected officials throughout the West as too bitter a pill to swallow.
Yet the national security of America and Western nations is diminished by bucking the growing domestic and global demand for fossil fuels with policies that seek to radically reduce their own fossil fuel production in their effort to mitigate changes in the global climate. That approach is not working, as global “carbon” emissions are growing substantially regardless of significant reductions in the West.
The national security answer lies in lessening the focus on climate change and increasing fossil fuel production, everywhere … in particular, oil, gas and coal in the U.S. and fracking in Europe (presently largely banned). A moratorium on closing nuclear power plants would also be helpful.
While the U.S. is currently producing oil and gas at record rates, those amounts are substantially less than what could be produced if stifling climate change regulations and brakes on future investment were lifted — 2.5 to 3.5 million bbl of oil/day more. By hamstringing America’s oil and gas production and related exports that substitute for Russian and Iranian product, the Administration is, in some measure, responsible for prolonging deadly conflicts on the European continent and in the Middle East.
Alaska is virtually off limits to new exploration to say nothing about exploitation. Permits for four new LNG export terminals were put “on hold” in January endangering future supply to our European allies. Thankfully a Judge recently ruled against the Administration.
EPA regulations and federal government subsidies have led to numerous high-quality coal power plant closures and even the shelving of new natural gas projects. DoD is spending substantial resources on electric trucks, tanks and yes, airplanes. This at a time when the defense budget is not nearly up to meeting the present global threats.
War by the China-Russia-Iran axis on U. S. allies, Ukraine, and Israel would literally run out of gas if the U.S. and the West strictly enforced existing sanctions on Russian and Iranian energy and ramped up its own production. It is beyond ironic that America and the West accept the passage of Russian and Iranian fossil fuel production to global markets, but clamp down on their own.
Necessary increased production in the West is not happening now and with a possible Kamala Harris-led, progressive, Green New Deal-focused administration in charge, the situation can only get worse. The Biden-Harris “whole-of-government” approach to doing away with fossil fuels now and into the future would continue, perhaps accelerate. Irresistible federal financial subsidies and hyper regulation to “encourage” industry and utilities to go Green would continue. The information war on fossil fuels would not stop.
Depletion of America and the West’s fossil fuel-producing and processing capacity while Russia, China, and autocratic Petro-States build theirs is a prescription for Western geopolitical disaster, an unforced error of historic proportion. Yet America and the West are presently headed in that direction.
The Trump candidacy has steadfastly supported the production of fossil fuels and opposed their phase-out, all-the-while taking major incoming fire from pseudo-religious but powerful forces bent on “saving the planet.” Trump et al. would work to dismantle the “climate-industrial complex” by removing the vast subsidies given to Green industry. In sum, he has promised to undo the Green New Deal at every turn while seeking American “energy independence, then dominance”… or, one might say, global energy realism.
We are witnessing a growing symbiotic relationship between China and Russia. America’s main adversary, China, is strengthened enormously by purchasing and processing fossil fuels and raw materials from Russia while its manufacturing powerhouse provides them with vital “dual use” products for the Russian military and a wide array of manufactures to support the Russian people’s demand for consumer products.
It’s a veritable “bromance,” just think President Xi’s “changes not seen in 100 years” statement. When experts diminish the Russian war machine by pointing to the limits of the Russian economy (about the size of Italy’s), they are not accounting for the potent China connection. The China-Russia bond of autocracies is a powerful match for the U.S. and European democracies. Add Iran in the Middle East and the West’s cause for unease is magnified.
New Green New Deal policies require the expenditure of trillions of dollars ($400 billion is already contained in the Inflation Reduction Act). Plus there’s tens of billions of dollars in Green New Deal-type spending in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act.
The fact that anyone who doesn’t accept the dogma of the “existential threat” of climate change is considered a heretic or a “denier” speaks volumes about the zeal of the movement and its significant impact on the electoral politics of the West. Advocates seem to think that intermittent solar and wind energy, which currently provide some 6 percent of global energy consumption, is the answer. Simplistic, unrealistic and in the end, dangerous to our way of life.
Once again, the real “existential threat” to Western Civilization is doing away with the very fossil fuels that are driving the global economy while alternatives are in their nascent stage, scientifically questionable, wildly expensive and nowhere near capable of meeting the ever-expanding needs of an energy-hungry planet.
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