{"id":413203,"date":"2022-03-08T04:27:48","date_gmt":"2022-03-08T01:27:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/if-the-ukraine-war-hasnt-scared-the-west-straight-on-energy-nothing-will\/"},"modified":"2022-03-08T04:27:48","modified_gmt":"2022-03-08T01:27:48","slug":"if-the-ukraine-war-hasnt-scared-the-west-straight-on-energy-nothing-will","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/if-the-ukraine-war-hasnt-scared-the-west-straight-on-energy-nothing-will\/","title":{"rendered":"#If the Ukraine war hasn\u2019t scared the West straight on energy, nothing will"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3dcab11a5d4\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3dcab11a5d4\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/if-the-ukraine-war-hasnt-scared-the-west-straight-on-energy-nothing-will\/#%E2%80%9CIf_the_Ukraine_war_hasnt_scared_the_West_straight_on_energy_nothing_will%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;If the Ukraine war hasn\u2019t scared the West straight on energy, nothing will&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CIf_the_Ukraine_war_hasnt_scared_the_West_straight_on_energy_nothing_will%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;If the Ukraine war hasn\u2019t scared the West straight on energy, nothing will&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--columnist inline-module--author\">\n<div class=\"inline-module--author__img\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"76\" height=\"69\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/rich-lowry.png?w=76&amp;h=69&amp;crop=1\" class=\"attachment-nyp_columnist size-nyp_columnist\" alt=\"Rich Lowry\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/rich-lowry.png 76w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/rich-lowry.png?w=38 38w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 76px) 100vw, 76px\"\/>        <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>There are forgivable intellectual and policy errors, and then there\u2019s the self-delusion that has driven the West into its dependence on Russian President Vladimir Putin\u2019s oil and gas.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Russia has long been a major supplier of energy to Europe. The depletion of natural-gas reserves in the West has played a role in Russia\u2019s increased significance. Moscow has also benefited, though, from Europe\u2019s deliberate choice to attempt a great leap forward into a green-energy future, especially in Germany, which decided to turn its back on both nuclear and coal.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In taking this route, Europe made a holiday-from-history decision to forget the incredible power of oil, gas and coal \u2014 the most reliable and efficient sources of energy the world has ever known \u2014 and ignore the inevitable centrality of energy to geopolitics.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Greta Thunberg, the teenage climate extremist who has been elevated into an oracle of all that is good and true, demanded nothing less.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The world hasn\u2019t embraced fossil fuels out of hatred of the planet but because they are so incredibly useful. If they didn\u2019t already exist \u2014 thanks to sunlight and plants that lived millions of years ago \u2014 we would have to invent them. Except we wouldn\u2019t be able to.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Oil is a miracle fuel. Alex Epstein of the Center for Industrial Progress writes that it is \u201calmost eerily engineered by natural processes, not just for cheapness, not just for reliability, not just for scalability, but also for another characteristic crucial to a functional civilization: portability.\u201d It powers cars, trucks and jets, without which the modern world as we know it wouldn\u2019t exist.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Coal, too, Epstein notes, is affordable, abundant and easy to extract and transport. There is a reason that developing nations invariably turn to it to power the industries crucial to economic advancement. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>So it shouldn\u2019t be a surprise that fossil fuels are still the leading source of global electricity, with coal accounting for 36.7% and gas 23.5%. The total fossil-fuel contribution, at 63.3%, is down only slightly from two decades ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/03\/biden-gas-prices-855.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"Russia has benefitted from other nations turning their back on fossil fuels.\" class=\"wp-image-21448365\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/03\/biden-gas-prices-855.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/03\/biden-gas-prices-855.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/03\/biden-gas-prices-855.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Russia has benefitted from other nations turning their back on fossil fuels.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">AP Photo\/Eric Gay, File<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In terms of overall energy, fossil fuels are an even larger proportion, 84.3%.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For its part, green energy \u2014 wind, solar and other renewables \u2014 accounts for around 10% of global electricity and even less of total energy.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Vladimir Putin knew this and understood the power it gave him, even if European policymakers wanted to evade the matter.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Did they not notice that coal was the mainstay of Britain\u2019s rise to global power in the 19th century?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Did they forget the role of oil in World War I and World War II, let alone subsequent 20th century history?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Petroleum wasn\u2019t particularly useful prior to World War I but by the end of it had become a pillar of national power. It fueled the motorized vehicles and airplanes that utterly transformed warfare. British Foreign Minister Lord Curzon famously said at the war\u2019s conclusion that the Allies had \u201cfloated to victory upon a wave of oil.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In World War II, Japan attacked the United States in part out of fear that the American oil embargo would starve its war machine, and one reason the Nazis were defeated was that they ran out of fuel.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/03\/biden-gas-prices-861-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"Oil and coal have helped make the modern world possible.\" class=\"wp-image-21448385\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/03\/biden-gas-prices-861-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/03\/biden-gas-prices-861-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/03\/biden-gas-prices-861-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Oil and coal have helped make the modern world possible.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Simon Dawson\/Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Of course, the strategic significance of the Middle East owed almost entirely to its vast oil reserves. The phrase \u201cWar for oil\u201d is a clich\u00e9 and usually a smear, but it is certainly true that no one has ever fought a war for wind.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In light of all this, Europe still choose to subjugate itself to an anti-Western authoritarian, and even as Russian opera stars are getting canceled, it is hesitant to stop purchases of Russian oil and gas.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Some perspective is called for.\u00a0While climate change may indeed prove a serious long-term challenge, it is not reducing parts of European cities to rubble or a threat to use as a tactical weapon.<\/p>\n<p>If this horrifying episode hasn\u2019t scared the West straight on energy, nothing will.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a>: @RichLowry<\/em>\n                        <\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/03\/07\/if-the-ukraine-war-hasnt-scared-the-west-straight-on-energy-nothing-will\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;If the Ukraine war hasn\u2019t scared the West straight on energy, nothing will&#8221; There are forgivable intellectual and policy errors, and then there\u2019s the self-delusion that has driven the West into its dependence on Russian President Vladimir Putin\u2019s oil and gas.\u00a0 Russia has long been a major supplier of energy to Europe. The depletion of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":413204,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/03\/newspress-collage-21447940-1646701002646.png?w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[126497,70752,77028,72970,70868,126128,73234],"class_list":["post-413203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-3-7-22","tag-energy","tag-fossil-fuel","tag-oil","tag-ukraine","tag-ukraine-war","tag-vladimir-putin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=413203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413203\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/413204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=413203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=413203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=413203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}