LETTER #11: RUSSIA'S INVASION OF UKRAINE SHOWS THE IMPORTANCE OF ENERGY INDEPENDENCE.
Say NO to sanctions and YES to energy independence. Stop feeding the mouth that bites.
To the Freedom Lovers,
Russia invaded Ukraine last night and nothing seems to be stopping Mr. Putin from doing what heβs doing.
Itβs heartbreaking to see the civilians of a country pay for the consequences of a war that they never wanted with their blood and even worse, lives. It makes me feel sad to see the Ukrainians living in a state of terror like this:
War is an ugly thing. No one wins by participating in it.
Letβs keep everything aside for a moment. What do I mean by being energy independent?
This one is important. So, pay attention.
The West buys hundreds of millions of dollars worth of resources from Russia EVERY SINGLE DAY, which indirectly finances the Ukrainian invasion.
If nothing changes over the next 24 hours, the West will buy ~3.5m barrels of Russian oil and ~275m cubic meters of gas and at todayβs prices, thatβs worth somewhere around $700 million.
Why?
Because of the βgreen energyβ policies, the West had been reducing the production of oil and natural gas to go βNetZeroβ by 2030 or something and going after the so-called renewable sources of energy which can never be reliable sources of energy.
These policies and the ESG scam forced the West to import oil and natural gas and as a result, rely upon countries like Russia for our energy needs because as I noted earlier, renewables are not reliable.
Not only the West but Europe relies heavily on Russia for their energy requirements too because they too, like the West, disincentivized the use of nuclear energy and halted the production of oil and natural gas in their region.
Not surprisingly, Europe imports around 40% of its natural gas and 27% of its crude oil from Russia. Because of our energy dependence on Russia, the West and Europe is now hostage to Russia. President Trump warned about it, but we didnβt listen:
The US was the major oil exporter under President Trump, but Mr. Biden ruined it all in one year.
The US imports 595,000 barrels of oil per day from Russia. The Keystone XL pipeline - which was shut down by Mr. Biden - would have produced 830,000 barrels of oil per day. Being energy dependent on Russia was a choice. A stupid choice, if you will.
Where are all the βenvironmentalistsβ who wanted every country to stop using oil, coal, nuclear energy and start using renewables? Without knowing the fact that our demand for energy can never be met with renewables because of their intermittency - wind energy can only be produced when the wind blows and solar energy can only be produced when the sun shines.
Russia was sane enough to not be caught in ESG propaganda.
When the Western and European leaders were busy scaring people with a virus with a 99% survival rate, Mr. Putin was busy making Russia an energy source for the world.
Will he cut off the energy supply for the countries that try to interfere with his actions?
It remains to be seen.
But one thing that no sane person will argue against is: Our decision to restrict the production of oil and natural gas in our countries and instead, start filling the pockets of Russia by buying their oil and natural gas was a dumb one.
Being energy independent is the only solution.
We deserve the consequences that it might bring. Until then, pray for the safety of Ukrainians.
FINAL THOUGHTβ¦.
Took me 2 hours to write it down. Dedication.