Don’t Get Used to Western Unity
AtlanticAPR 2022
Biden is letting visions of green energy drive this gas price shock. It's outrageous that the US may be considering imports from anti-American nations like Iran and Venezuela. Biden needs to open up domestic drilling asap - all the oil that Americans need is already under their feet.
It's wrong to blame Biden. COVID and its cascading effects drove the energy crisis - not drilling leases, the Keystone pipeline, or green energy. OPEC+ held back supply as pandemic restrictions relaxed, and the Russia-Ukraine war only adds complexity. US Presidents have very little impact on short-term supply, and the right's argument is disingenuous.
The invasion of Ukraine could speed up the world's transition to renewable energy. The planet's dependence on fossil fuels has to weaken; this may hasten the inevitable.
The ban on importing Russian oil was welcome news. Despite sanctions in every other sector, Western nations have been continuing to pay hundreds of millions of dollars every day for Russian oil and gas. The failure to impose oil sanctions has bankrolled the invasion of Ukraine, human suffering, and atrocities.
It's hypocritical to impose sanctions on Russia for invading Ukraine, but not on the US for invading Iraq for equally unjustified reasons, or on Israel for invading and annexing Arab lands.