World Power No More

Russia may not be as green as the U.S, but Russia is more of world power.

By Darryl Weng

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Biden’s energy policies at home have already given Russia a Get Out of Jail Free card to escalate tensions in Ukraine. Even more so, his failures are intensifying on the global stage.

Under pressure from the radical progressive agenda, Biden eliminated oil reserves in “hopes” of pushing for green energy usage and less of “unclean” energy. If that wasn’t enough, Biden pushed for states to be regulated and restricted in production of the abundant supply of oil America carries. Biden faced immediate consequences, forced to beg for oil and gas from the OPEC cartel, as other countries like Russia, China, and Mexico are not the best options if his deals were to be made public.

And, of course, lies the EU, in the center where the world desires for all political and regional troubles to travel to. So where do the countries of the EU receive their high in demand unclean energies? A little produced by themselves, a good amount imported from the OPEC cartel, and a colossal amount imported from Russia. Certainly, the U.S cannot take this lightly?

Indeed, the OPEC cartel does have a leveraged position in the world’s share of crude oil, natural gas, and solid fossil fuel production. Major countries like the US and China, not to mention the entire EU combined, require much supply from OPEC. OPEC even made a deal with Russia to prevent further competition in the natural gas production. With Russia supposedly not increasing supply of natural gas, OPEC is not pressured to continue producing at similar or higher rates than Russia. As demand increases while supply stays stagnant, prices soar, pushing profits beyond expectations.

However, Putin chose not to honor the deal. With the Nord Stream 2 pipeline freely constructed throughout Eastern Europe and into major countries like Germany, Russia’s economic state has enjoyed multiple boons. Just recently, Russia increased supply of natural gas, as OPEC looks on hopelessly. Under Putin’s economic control, EU countries continue to consume Russian natural gas, saving their own economies amidst the helpless Ukraine crisis. Even more so, Russia made a deal to produce natural gas for China for 30 years, according to Chen Aizhu, in a U.S News and World Report article. Through Russia’s natural gas production to China and much of Europe, Putin has solidified his economic presence, combined with influence and malicious intent.

Biden ought to be furious, if not scared. Russia and China have made a pact, economically and politically. The EU is heavily dependent on Russia’s natural gas resources. OPEC has neither motivation to change the political landscape in Europe nor the political influence to do so. The current Ukraine crisis only makes matters worse.

The only nation left to fix the world that has the political, economical, and military influence to do so is the United States. The potential of unrestricted natural gas production in America is unparalleled. It’s clear that countries that are a part of NATO and/or EU would prefer for the U.S to be the highest supplier of natural gas. Eastern European countries like Poland have gladly paid extensively for American military technology and weaponry. These countries are willing to drastically increase budget plans for fears of malignant countries like Russia.

But, thanks to Biden’s restrictions on unclean energy, America’s influence across the globe has been increasingly limited, and, currently, the U.S cannot satisfy countries willing to cooperate. Instead of vocally resisting U.S demands during the Trump Administration, EU leaders now take physical actions to resist U.S demands(more so requests) with the Biden Administration now in control. If Biden wishes for the U.S to retain its status as a proper world power, the only action is to save the dominance of democracy in the world, through releasing restrictions on natural gas and oil production and pushing for supply deals with allies. America’s military influence and presence is useless at the moment, without economic presence like that of Russia.