Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
March 17, 2022
When President Donald Trump’s term expired and Joe Biden moved into the White House, inflation sat at a reasonable 1.4 percent. Today, after Biden has been in the White House a mere 14 months, inflation has skyrocketed to a terribly uncomfortable 7.9 percent. This is not on Trump; this is not even on Vladimir Putin. This is on Biden and his failing economic policies.
When President Donald Trump’s term expired and Joe Biden moved into the White House, the national average gas price was an almost livable $2.39 per gallon. Fourteen months later, the national average gas price rose to a nearly bankrupting $4.29 per gallon as of March 17, 2022, according to AAA. This is not on Trump; this is not on Putin. Gas prices have increased 48 percent under Biden prior to the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine by the megalomaniacal Putin. This is on Biden, as he is beholden to the Green Energy Mafia.
The now three week long, and growing, war against Ukraine by Russia and the despotic war criminal Vladimir Putin is not the root cause of the rise in gas prices. That falls on Biden, for on Day One of his term he shuttered the Keystone XL Pipeline and any other domestic source of energy he could thwart. Biden’s orders negatively impacted ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) and the freezing of other federal leases, yet waived sanctions on Putin’s pipeline, thus adding funding to his war machine.
The United States moved, rather rapidly, from being energy independent to energy dependent, and Biden is on the verge of going on bended knee to Iran, Saudi Arabia, or Venezuela for gas/oil. Depending on the source of information, the United States had imported two to seven percent of its gas/oil from Russia - which will cease, as per Biden’s announcement on Tuesday, March 8. Out of the frying pan and into the fire goes Biden and his administration seeking to do business with the Marxists of Venezuela - a country the United States does not even recognize officially; the Islamists of Saudi Arabia; or the jihadists of Iran, who are mere steps away from finalizing their nuclear bomb, undoubtedly to be aimed at Israel.
The solution is simple. “Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less,” as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich wrote in his 2008 book. The message of energy independence still applies, now more than ever before.
Biden must reauthorize the Keystone XL Pipeline, he must reauthorize drilling leases in ANWR, and throughout North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Texas. The United States should be pumping gas and oil that comes out of Texas, not Tehran. American gas/oil is cleaner than that which comes from Russia. By allowing the United States to return to the days of energy independence as was enjoyed under Trump, the US is also able to help European countries wean themselves off of Putin’s dirty, war-supported, Russian gas/oil - and at lower prices. Win-win - for both the United States and for the nations that should separate themselves from Russian energy and being beholden to the egomaniacal Putin, who is intentionally targeting children hunkering down in school basements, as well as pregnant women, also hiding in basements - maternity hospital basements.
Based upon information from these five sources, this is the percent range of gas/oil the following countries procure from Russia.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/katharinabuchholz/2022/01/28/which-european-countries-depend-on-russian-gas-infographic/?sh=b091867d2aa0 (Forbes)
http://www.gasprocessingnews.com/features/201906/the-insoluble-equation-how-to-balance-europe%E2%80%99s-natural-gas-supply-and-demand.aspx (Gas Processing & LNG)
https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/2i7cri/eu_dependence_on_russian_natural_gas/ (Congressional Research Service)
www.eia.gov (US Energy Information Administration)
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1201743/russian-gas-dependence-in-europe-by-country/ (Statista)
Austria………………………………… 52-100 percent
Belarus…………………………………99
Belgium……………………………….. 23-43
Bosnia and Herzegovina……………. 99-100
Bulgaria……………………………….. 77-100
Croatia………………………………… 37-68
Cyprus………………………………… 0
Czech Republic………………………. 63-81
Denmark………………………………. 15
Estonia………………………………… 34-100
Finland………………………………… 80-100
France………………………………… 17-24
Georgia………………………………… 6
Germany………………………………. 30-58
Greece…………………………………. 51-58
Hungary………………………………… 40-100
Ireland………………………………….. 0
Italy……………………………………… 20-46
Latvia……………………………………. 93-100
Lithuania………………………………… 41-100
Luxembourg……………………………. 28
Malta…………………………………….. 0
Moldova…………………………………. 100
Netherlands…………………………….. 5-11
North Macedonia………………………. 100
Norway………………………………….. 25-99
Poland…………………………………… 40-72
Portugal…………………………………. 0
Romania………………………………… 10-24
Serbia…………………………………… 89-99
Slovakia…………………………………. 63-74
Slovenia…………………………………. 40-57
Spain…………………………………….. 11
Sweden………………………………….. 100
Turkey…………………………………… 21-52
United Kingdom…………………………. 0
Hardly anyone with any sense of reality expects Biden to return the United States to the path of energy independence. After all, he’s to blame for the current fix this nation currently suffers. But, this is a midterm election year, and reaching out to the various members of Congress, might move the needle in the right direction. Hold them accountable. Remember, they work for the citizenry of the United States, not the other way around.
Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.
No comments:
Post a Comment