In the last several weeks, we’ve learned how fossil fuels have been an amazing blessing to humanity. The energy we derive from oil, coal and natural gas has allowed human beings to live much longer and better lives than ever before. However, there are still billions of people around the world who haven’t been able to fully benefit from the power of fossil fuels. Looking to the future, therefore, we have a moral imperative: humanity must continue the develop and utilize the world’s fossil fuel resources, so that all of our fellow human beings can thrive.
Although fully achievable, this vision of human flourishing is severe threatened. Governments around the world, drunk on the toxic brew of global warming alarmism, have pledged to drastically reduce or even eliminate the use of fossil fuels. These pledges often go under the rubric of “net zero,” meaning that such nations promise to achieve zero carbon emissions by a certain date. Soon after taking office, President Joe Biden promised the push the United States towards net zero by 2050. Many western nations have made similar commitments. It would be difficult to overstate the harm these policies will potentially inflict upon humanity. For those of us who live in the United States, our future prosperity depends upon our continued access to affordable energy. But for billions of people in poor countries, energy is not only an issue of prosperity; it’s a matter of survival.
Let’s examine what happens when net zero policies are initiated around the globe. We’ll begin here in the wealthy United States. Americans have already suffered greatly from Joe Biden’s war on energy. The Biden administration has antagonized oil and gas producers at every opportunity, sending gas prices to excruciating records. Natural gas prices have also soared, dramatically raising the price of home heating and cooking.
Expensive energy also greatly threatens American industry. For example, the Century Aluminum Company operates a huge Aluminum mill in Hawesville, Kentucky. This mill is the second largest producer of Aluminum in the country, providing 20% of US output. In June, the company announced the mill would be shut down for at least a year because of stratospheric electricity costs, which have tripled in the last few months. Sadly, 600 employees will lose their jobs.
Shortly after the bad news from Kentucky, Alcoa Corporation – the largest Aluminum producer in the US – followed suit by indicated that they were shuttering a mill in Indiana. Some American steel mills are likewise curtailing operations due to exorbitant energy costs. According to Bloomberg news, “In May, a group of factories across the US Midwest warned federal energy regulators that some were on the verge of closing for the summer or longer because of what they described as “unjust and unreasonable” electricity costs.”
Instead of encouraging America’s marvelous fossil fuel industry, President Biden and congressional Democrats recently approved an astonishing $370 billion on green energy. Progressives loudly boast that this massive blowout will help save our planet from catastrophic global warming. Yet climate economist Bjorn Lomborg, using the United Nation’s own climate models, has shown that this green energy splurge will reduce the world’s temperature by, at best 0.028 degrees F by the year 2100 and more likely by only 0.0009 degrees F. Thus, Democrats will spend a fortune on initiatives that will be essentially worthless.
So, in summary, what does net zero look like in America? Far higher gas prices and utility bills, forcing many working-class Americans to choose between food and fuel. Factories and mills shutting down, resulting in millions of lost jobs. Dramatically reduced standards of living. And these are just the birth pangs of net zero! If our nation truly continues to pursue zero emissions, then the considerable suffering we’ve already experienced is only the beginning. Remember, the United States still gets 81% of our energy from fossil fuels and less than 6% from wind and solar. It would be no exaggeration to say that eliminating the energy America derives from fossil fuels would plunge our nation into a state of adject poverty and chaos. History teaches us that such deprivations would inevitably lead to the unraveling of civil society, with widespread unrest and riots.
Let’s now examine what net zero means for our friends in Europe. Many people are unaware that the Netherlands is an amazing agricultural success story. Despite its small size, the value of Dutch agricultural exports is exceeded only by the United States. Dutch farmers are astonishingly productive. Like other farms around the world, Dutch yields have surged higher because of nitrogen-based fertilizers, made from natural gas. Yet almost unbelievably, it seems the Dutch government has declared war upon its own farmers. Driven by environmental hysteria, the government has demanded draconian cuts in nitrogen-based fertilizers, despite the fact that Dutch farmers have already succeeded in slashing nitrogen escape by 70%. The government has also demanded drastic reductions in livestock which – by their own estimates – would eliminate one-third of the country’s dairy and cattle farms.
Unsurprisingly, Dutch farmers are incensed that their own government would turn against them. Massive protests have swept the Netherlands. Thankfully, it seems that Dutch public opinion has swung heavily in favor of the farmers. Hopefully, the government officials behind this madness will be swept out of power in the next elections. What the Dutch need are leaders who will support the farmers helping to feed the world.
Net zero fantasies have been particularly destructive in Germany. In late 2010, Germany embarked upon a policy called Energiewende, or “energy transition.” They were the first major economy attempting to extinguish carbon emissions by replacing fossil fuel and nuclear power plants with wind and solar projects. Over the past decade, the German government has sunk vast amounts of money into windmills and solar panels. In fact, energy analysts anticipate that by the year 2025, Germany will have spent $580 billion on renewables! As the result, the amount of German electricity from wind and solar has risen from 8% to 31%.
However, Energiewende is hardly a success story. Remember, renewables are hugely expensive and unreliable sources of energy. German electricity costs have soared to agonizing levels. Utility bills have doubled; Germans now suffer the highest electricity costs in the world, paying 39c per kWh. By comparison, the average price for electricity in the United States is only 16c per kWh. These costs have placed a tremendous strain upon German consumers and businesses, again resulting in lower standards of living, lost jobs, and reduced economic productivity.
Moreover, Germany has consistently failed to meet its targets for reduced carbon emissions. The reason is obvious: any gains they’ve made through greater wind and solar power have been largely offset by the elimination of nuclear power. Germany once had 17 nuclear power plants happily generating carbon-free energy; now there are only 3. The remaining plants were scheduled to go off-line by the end of 2022. Had Germany invested $580 billion in nuclear power rather than wasting it on wind and solar, the nation would now be enjoying 100% carbon-free electricity, with enough surplus to support all of its cars and light trucks!
In the final analysis, Energiewende has been a dismal failure. This disastrous experiment has cost billions of dollars, failed to meaningfully reduce carbon emissions, and inflicted serious damage upon Germany’s economy.
Yet the story gets even worse because of the shadowy figure of Vladimir Putin. Joe Biden’s war on energy has driven up oil prices around the world. As the result, Putin has raked in billions of dollars in oil revenue – money which has financed his war machine. Meanwhile, green energy ambitions in Europe have made the continent extremely vulnerable to Putin’s predations. Europeans have become dangerously dependent upon Russia for energy. Following Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, European nations sought to impose sanctions upon Russia. Yet Putin holds the ultimate trump card: the ability to cut off the natural gas supply that Europeans desperately need to heat their homes and power their industries.
Misguided environmental policy has left Germany especially vulnerable to Putin’s energy blackmail. Germany now faces a full-blown crisis; the government is desperately scrambling to secure essential energy for its citizens. Ironically, they’ve been forced to restart coal-fired plants, despite the fact that coal emits twice as much carbon as natural gas. Many Germans fear they will not be able to heat their homes this winter. They’ve resorted to stockpiling firewood for the long winter months ahead. And all this is occurring in one of the wealthiest and most technologically advanced countries in the world.
In summary, net zero policies are a serious threat to human flourishing. But here’s the most sobering thing: we’ve so far only examined the effects of net zero upon the richest parts of the world. What will be the impact of net zero upon the impoverished nations who lack energy? Next week we shall address that vital issue. For now, though, it’s enough to say this: for billions of human beings living in the developing world, the issue of affordable energy is literally a matter of life or death.
