Implications of US energy dominance

President-elect Donald Trump is set to create a National Energy Council that he says will establish American “energy dominance” around the world as he seeks to boost US oil and gas drilling and move away from President Joe Biden’s focus on climate change.

The energy council — to be led by North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Trump’s choice to head the Interior Department — will be key in Trump’s pledge to “drill, drill, drill” and sell more oil and other energy sources to allies in Europe and around the globe.

The new council will be granted sweeping authority over federal agencies involved in energy permitting, production, generation, distribution, regulation and transportation, with a mandate to cut bureaucratic red tape, enhance private sector investments and focus on innovation instead of “totally unnecessary regulation,” Trump said.

But the president-elect’s energy wishes are likely to run into real-world limits. For one, U. oil production under Biden is already at record levels. The federal government cannot force companies to drill for more oil, and production increases could lower prices and reduce profits.

A call for energy dominance — a term Trump also used in his first term as president — “is an opportunity, not a requirement,’' for the oil industry to move forward on drilling projects under terms that are likely to be more favorable to industry than those offered by Biden, said energy analyst Kevin Book.

Whether Trump achieves energy dominance — however he defines it — “comes down to decisions by private companies, based on how they see supply-demand balances in the global marketplace,’' said Book, managing partner at ClearView Energy Partners, a Washington research firm. Don’t expect an immediate influx of new oil rigs dotting the national landscape, he said.

Trump’s bid to boost oil supplies — and lower U.S. prices — is complicated by his threat this week to impose 25% import tariffs on Canada and Mexico, two of the largest sources of US oil imports. The oil industry warned the tariffs could raise prices and even harm national security.

“Canada and Mexico are our top energy trading partners, and maintaining the free flow of energy products across our borders is critical for North American energy security and US consumers,” said Scott Lauermann, speaking for the American Petroleum Institute, the oil industry’s top lobbying group.

American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, which represents U.S. refineries, also opposes potential tariffs, saying in a statement that “American refiners depend on crude oil from Canada and Mexico to produce the affordable, reliable fuels consumers count on every day.”

Scott Segal, a former Bush administration official, said the idea of centering energy decisions at the White House follows an example set by Biden, who named a trio of White House advisers to lead on climate policy. Segal, a partner at the law and policy law firm Bracewell, called Burgum “a steady hand on the tiller” with experience in fossil fuels and renewables.

And unlike Biden’s climate advisers — Gina McCarthy, John Podesta and Ali Zaidi — Burgum will probably take his White House post as a Senate-confirmed Cabinet member, Segal said.

Dustin Meyer, senior vice president of policy, economics and regulatory affairs at the American Petroleum Institute, called the new energy council “a good thing” for the US economy and trade. “Conceptually it makes a lot of sense to have as much coordination as possible,” he said.

Still, “market dynamics will always be the key’’ for any potential increase in energy production, Meyer said.

Jonathan Elkind, a senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, called energy dominance a “deliberately vague concept,” but said, “It’s hard to see how (Trump) can push more oil into an already saturated market.”

Trump has promised to bring gasoline prices below US$2 a gallon, but experts call that highly unlikely, since crude oil prices would need to drop dramatically to achieve that goal. Gas prices averaged US$3.07 nationally as of Wednesday, down from US$3.25 a year ago.

Elkind and other experts said they hope the new energy council will move beyond oil to focus on renewable energy such as wind, solar and geothermal power, as well as nuclear. None of those energy resources produces greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.

“Failure to focus on climate change as an existential threat to our planet is a huge concern and translates to a very significant loss of American property and American lives,’' said Elkind, a former assistant energy secretary in the Obama administration. He cited federal statistics showing two dozen weather disasters this year that caused more than US$1 billion in damage each. A total of 418 people were killed.

Trump has played down risks from climate change and pledged to rescind unspent money in the Inflation Reduction Act, Biden’s landmark climate and health care bill. He also said he will stop offshore wind development when he returns to the White House in January.

Even so, his Nov. 15 announcement of the energy council says he will “expand ALL forms of energy production to grow our Economy and create good-paying jobs.”

That includes renewables, said Safak Yucel, associate professor at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.

“The mandate for the energy council is US dominance globally, but what’s more American than American solar and American wind?’' he asked. A report from Ernst & Young last year showed that solar was the cheapest source of new-build electricity in many markets.

Trump, in his statement, said he wants to dramatically increase baseload power to lower electricity costs, avoid brownouts and “WIN the battle for AI superiority.”

In comments to reporters before he was named to the energy post, Burgum cited a similar goal, noting increased demand for electricity from artificial intelligence, commonly known as AI, and fast-growing data centers. “The AI battle affects everything from defense to health care to education to productivity as a country, ″ Burgum said.

While Trump mocks the climate law as the “green new scam,” he is unlikely to repeal it, Yucel and other experts said. One reason: Most of its investments and jobs are in Republican congressional districts. GOP members of Congress have urged House Speaker Mike Johnson to retain the law, which passed with only Democratic votes.

“A lot of Southern states are telling Trump, ‘We actually like renewables,’” Yucel said, noting that Republican-led states have added thousands of jobs in recent years in wind, solar and battery power.

If renewables make economic sense, he added, “they’ll continue.’'

 Courtesy: Associated Press

A wakeup call for the US citizens

Let's acknowledge the reality, the United States operates under a façade of democracy. At best, it can be described as a "hybrid democracy," where elected representatives do not truly govern. Instead, military-industrial complexes, oil corporations, and Wall Street exert control.

Both major political candidates receive substantial financial backing from these powerful non-state entities. Once elected, presidents often find themselves subservient to these interests rather than serving the people.

People worldwide should remember that Democrats and Republicans have often united to erode fundamental freedoms, establishing a secretive regime of mass surveillance, unconstitutional detention, and torture.

They have dragged the nation into illegal wars based on lies, resulting in millions of deaths and the squandering of trillions of dollars.

It is essential not to forget the millions who stood against the exploitation of national grief to further the neoconservative agenda of global military domination—citizens whose voices were ignored and demonized by the political elite.

We must also remember how Muslims and their neighbors have been unjustly targeted, surveilled, smeared, and falsely accused in the name of "protecting the United States."

Patriotism has been weaponized to undermine the First Amendment, stifling dissent, journalism, whistleblowing, and activism. To this day, there are ongoing efforts to criminalize protests against injustice, war, and genocide.

Never forget how both Democrats and Republicans have set the country on a path toward fascism, leading to an administration openly supporting the genocide of the Palestinian people.

True patriotism requires the courage to stand up for justice, not blindly following orders. By resisting both war-driven political parties, the American people can halt the descent into fascism and fight for a peaceful, just, and livable future for the generations to come.

US Election: Selecting Lesser (Bigger) Evil

I have been writing these blogs since June 2012. Over the years I have developed certain premises that include: 1) the United States is the biggest war monger, it creates conflicts around the world and supplies funds to perpetuate these conflicts to maintain its hegemony, 2) US foreign policy is driven by military complexes, the biggest beneficiary of conflicts/ wars, 3) US oil companies that earn windfall profits during conflicts, particularly in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region are the major donors in presidential election and 4) dishonest western media often run concocted stories to prove that the US is right in imposing economic sanctions on certain countries.

I have also come to the conclusion that United States, is not a true democracy but controlled-democracy. The citizens are forces to elect either of the two candidates. They term it selecting the lesser evil, but I term it “selecting the bigger evil” on the basis of above stated premises.

The US president and the entire US administration is supplying tons of lethal arms to Ukraine and Israel to perpetuate wars, rather than negotiating ceasefire. In Gaza alone nearly 40,000 people, mostly women and children, have been killed and the entire enclave has been reduced to debris, but US administration refuses to accept it is genocide.

Lately, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu was invited to address US Congress Members for the fourth time, whereas he should have been handed over to the authorities who have held him responsible for the genocide in Gaza.

My readers may recall one of my recent posts, “Neither Biden nor Trump fit to be US President”. Ironically, the US electoral system does not support candidature of an independent and US citizens will be forced to choose between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, the darlings of military complexes and Wall Street and fully supported by the western mainstream media, of course in exchange for tons of dollars given to them to tow the US policies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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US hates and destroys three types of countries dated July 11 2024

https://shkazmipk.blogspot.com/2024/07/us-hates-and-destroys-three-types-of.html

 

This a very complicated subject but we have tried to be brief, concise and to the point. Let us say point blank that United States just can’t stand three types of countries: 1) countries not willing to accept its hegemony, 2) countries rich in mineral resources, especially energy products and 3) countries having strong social and cultural bonding.

The first category is led by China and Russia, which has a long history on conflict/ wars called ‘Cold War Era’. The later addition is Iran, which has been facing US sanctions for more than four decades because it termed United States ‘The Biggest Satan’.

In the second category most prominent are the oil and gas producing countries. These are hostage of US hegemony because of restriction on energy trade in ‘petro-dollars’ only. The countries facing extreme US hostilities include, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Venezuela and Russia.

United States suffers from worst social evils that include distance from religion, drug/ alcohol addiction, extra marital relation, abortion etc. Therefore, the US hate Muslim countries, some of them rich in energy resources, on top of the list are Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Ironically, the US foreign policy is dictated by three groups: 1) military complexes, 2) oil exploration and production companies and 3) companies owned and operated by Zionists.

The name of the game is create conflict, supply funds and arms to rebel groups and weaken the states. Till yesterday Venezuela was friend and biggest partner in oil trade, but at present it faces sanctions.

United States follows hybrid war and always chose battle grounds thousands of miles away from its borders, which include Korean Peninsula, Arabian Peninsula, Middle East and North Africa. This time Ukraine has been chosen to fight a proxy war against Russia. Let no one forget United States dropped two atom bombs on Japan in the Second World War.

The logical conclusion is, “United States is merchant of death, the biggest war monger and the biggest arms supplier, which wants to establish its hegemony around the world. It has the capacity to find and feed the touts, install and topple the governments and eliminate the agents when they become redundant”.