Collusion on oil production is a slap in face of United States, Europe
Just when you thought it was safe to start up the Suburban again. Sorry, car-loving America, but Saudi Arabia and Russia have decided that oil prices are too low, so they have agreed to cut oil production to boost prices while decreasing the supply of crude to the worldwide marketplace.
As if inflation wasn’t bad enough. It seems likely, with this agreement between Russia and Saudi Arabia, that prices will go up again, and President Joe Biden will get blamed — again — even though it’s really the doing of Vladimir Putin and OPEC, which is led by Saudi Arabia.
It’s hard to imagine a more venal man than Vladimir Putin and a more repressive regime than the one run by Mohammed bin Salman, dictator of Saudi Arabia. Both countries are anathema to all of the principles of democracy held dear by most European and North American countries.
It is an incredibly frustrating and sad state of affairs that we are so dependent upon both of those countries for our energy needs. We need more of everything in this country — solar, wind, geothermal, nuclear, natural gas and, yes, even domestic production of oil.
And yet, here we sit, in our cars, engines running, commuting to and from work like lemmings to the cliff. And make no mistake, that cliff is controlled by none other than Russia and OPEC because of our ongoing, alarming and incredibly shortsighted dependence on foreign fuel.
New England is a perfect case in point, where one-quarter of all homes are heated by oil. A larger percentage are fueled by natural gas, which, fortunately, there is ample supply of in the U.S.
Europe, on the other hand, doesn’t have that kind of luxury, as much of its natural gas comes from Russia. Home heating costs in the United Kingdom are scheduled to rise more than 200% this winter. (Making things worse, of course, is that it seems Russia has decided to blow up two natural gas pipelines that help fuel northern Europe, further reducing the supply.) The UK’S new prime minister, Liz Truss, hopes to spend $150 billion to freeze consumer energy prices so that residents aren’t left in the cold this winter.
The state and federal governments serving New England have offered similar, though far more modest, help to Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut and Maine.
One of the most important tools being used in the Northeast is to expand the eligibility for home heating assistance. Currently, the income levels in which people become eligible for assistance are extremely low. Many people with just slightly higher incomes — that put them out of reach of assistance — are still going to struggle to pay fuel bills this winter, even though they won’t be allowed to tap into the fuel assistance pool. The federal government should consider loosening those income eligibility guidelines so that more people can get help.
Meanwhile, Biden and other European leaders have their hands full with a Russian leader who seems motivated by nothing more than the childish need for attention, on the largest stage in the world, and with his finger on the nuclear button. In the meantime, freedom-loving people the world over would be wise to consider implementing some of the energy-saving tools used in the 1970s when the United States was held hostage to OPEC during the oil embargo.
Turn off the lights. Drive energy-efficient cars (park the Suburban for now). Work from home. Keep the thermostat to 68 degrees. Drive 55 mph. More modern energy savings come from energy-efficient furnaces and light bulbs, programmable thermostats and roof solar panels for both electricity and hot water heaters.
We should all do everything we can to keep from sending anything to the despots who seem to revel in curtailing freedom.