Ending fossil fuel usage is only a dream, at this point in time

Green Energy Mania (GEM) desires that we do away with fossil fuels immediately, without regard to whether the preferred types of green energy sources are available in the necessary quantities to meet the present and future needs of Americans and the rest of humanity.

Few people believe that burning materials to make electricity is a good idea, if there are other ways of producing it. There are, however, lots of people who believe that the GEM goal is so important that it needs to be forced on Americas right away, without regard to the reality that we are nowhere close to being able to produce enough electricity by wind, solar, nuclear, et al, to handle the needs of Americans.

This attitude produces many problems, such as rules and restrictions that were created that affect the production of fossil fuels, reducing their availability and increasing their price.

Furthermore, while the US is at the top of the list of nations reducing CO2 emissions, there are other nations, like China and India, that couldn’t care less about that, and are increasing their use of fossil fuels. Why are we punishing ourselves with expensive and inconvenient restrictions when the reductions they produce are made irrelevant by the increasing excesses of other nations? 

Perhaps the only thing good about Putin’s Russian attack on Ukraine might be that it has highlighted some of the fallacies of the GEM mindset. Not so long ago — 2020, to be exact — the United States had gained the status of being a net energy exporter. And then, Joseph Biden became President of the United States, and willingly gave that up through executive orders that hurt our fossil fuel production and usage.

We must sensibly balance our wants against our needs. No matter how badly people want to end fossil fuel use, we have no choice but to depend upon them until cleaner methods are able to meet our needs. And even more sensibly, let’s use our own fossil fuels, not those of other countries.

Buying oil from places like Venezuela, whose oil is the dirtiest in the world, and America-hating Iran, the world’s top sponsor of terror, is just foolish.

And when we start smartly using our own fossil fuels as needed, let’s stop foolishly making that more difficult and expensive by getting rid of rules and restrictions. Let’s finish the Keystone XL pipeline that will make it safer and faster to get fuel from Canada for use here.

On that topic, Global Energy Institute President Marty Durbin said last year that her organization “opposes President Biden’s action to revoke the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. The pipeline — the most studied infrastructure project in American history — is already under construction and has cleared countless legal and environmental hurdles. This is a politically motivated decision that is not grounded in science. It will harm consumers and put thousands of Americans in the building trades out of work. Halting construction will also impede the safe and efficient transport of oil, and unfairly single out production from one of our closest and most important allies.”

“Several extensive regulatory studies conducted over the past decade as part of an unprecedented regulatory review concluded the pipeline would enhance the American economy while protecting the environment,” according to the Global Energy Institute.

Those that think not using a pipeline, and transporting fuels instead by trucks and trains — which burn fossil fuels while moving those fuels, putting lots of CO2 into the air, which a pipeline does not do — are not thinking clearly.

The Keystone XL pipeline would deliver over 800,000 barrels of oil a day. Its construction supports over 13,000 Canadian and American workers in the building trades.

And, while the U.S. and some other nations are working to phase out the use of coal for electricity production, others are increasing its use.

Citing data from the International Energy Agency (IEA), the Heartland Daily News, published by The Heartland Institute, reported that “Global coal demand fell by 4 percent in the pandemic year 2020, the biggest decline since World War II, but coal demand surged in 2021 as economies rebounded from the 2020 lockdowns. The IEA projects coal use will rise at an annual rate of 6 percent through 2024, surpassing its previous all-time high for use sometime in 2022.”

“According to the IEA,” the Heartland report continued, “the gap between the political commitments to meet net zero carbon dioxide emissions and the realities of the electric power demand and the increasing use of coal to satisfy it, is widening.”

We need fossil fuels, and will for some time to come. And, other nations are going to continue to use fossil fuels, regardless of what the U.S. and other nations decide to do, or what they may think is needed. 

Some nation or nations will benefit from producing those products. Why should that not be the U.S.? We will benefit from the jobs created, and the income produced, and we might as well enjoy the cost savings that using American fossil fuels will provide to us.

America is a much weaker nation today than it used to be

Many of us living today were born at a time when a family most often consisted of a mother, a father, and one or more children. The father — and sometimes the mother, also — worked to support the family. The children grew up in an atmosphere where things like a basic education, a close-knit family that survived on love for each other and respect for others, preparing to get a job and probably getting married and having a family of their own, were normal. And children were then prepared to repeat the cycle.

This age-old process produced a stable, mature society that helped America, which was brilliantly designed, develop into the leading nation in our world. And today there are still many people who are raised that way and will continue to live that way.

But through recent decades, this process has been weakened, and some of the influences that weakened it have come directly from our federal government. 

Today, America is a much weaker nation than it used to be, in many ways. Many people seem to be unaware of that, and others are unconcerned with the state of things. Will America follow the same path as Rome? Will it be destroyed from within because its people do not know, or have abandoned the governmental and social structures that made it great?

In addition to the Roman Empire, Babylon and Greece fell. Many of us watched as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (the Soviet Union, or USSR) fell apart. These once-great nations did themselves in. They were careless with their strength and glory, and they abandoned what helped them grow, and destroyed themselves.

There is a story from the early days of the United States. In Philadelphia in 1787, as delegates to the Constitutional Convention were leaving Independence Hall, from the crowd of interested onlookers a woman approached Benjamin Franklin. She asked, “well, Doctor, what do we have, a republic or a monarchy?” Franklin replied, “a republic, if you can keep it.”

Great nations evolve. They start from meager, often negative beginnings; they gradually grow to a level of freedom, security and comfort.

But then devolution begins. After time, comfort leads to forgetting the past struggles and the need to conserve what made them what they are. Seeking abundance takes control. With abundance comes an attitude of superiority, accompanied by greater apathy for the processes that brought development and success. That leads to selfishness. Selfishness leads to societal division and discord. And eventually, discord brings collapse. 

How far down that road has America traveled? What are the signs? Here are some.

A. Government is too big, costs too much and is too involved in our daily lives.

The federal government website tells us that “There are roughly 2 million civilian government jobs at more than 120 federal departments and agencies, not including the U.S. Postal Service.”

A federal department rules over education, which should be a local and state responsibility. Government inserts itself in other areas where it is not needed, wanted, or supposed to be. Ten thousand new IRS employees, they say, are “needed” to process tax returns, or for whatever purpose the government may direct.

Many government agencies are encouraged to put into effect rules with the force of law. But in America, only Congress can make laws. And then government agencies are sometimes ordered not to enforce the law, like on the southern border, allowing illegal entry of people, drugs and gangs. And at the state and local level, district attorneys in several states are not prosecuting some or many crimes.

In a Gallup poll last September, 52 percent said government is doing too many things, and prefer lower taxes and fewer government services.

B. Some military leaders think “equity” among races is more important than having the most qualified people functioning in the most effective military possible. Shifting attention from readiness to identity equity is dangerous. Mortars, bombs and bullets do not seek targets evenly by race, they seek available targets, perhaps made easier by this new wokeness. Military personnel must be united against a common enemy, not against those in other sub-groups because of race or other irrelevant differences.

C. One political party is straying from, and working to be rid of, some of the principles established more than 200 years ago. Members of Congress have discussed doing away with the filibuster and the Electoral College, which protect minority interests and the interests of smaller states from the tyranny of the majority; and stacking the Supreme Court to achieve dominance through law-making by judges and justices. 

On that subject Justice Clarence Thomas said in Utah Friday, “Are we leaving [our children] a mess or are we leaving them a country? Are we leaving them chaos or are we going to leave them a court?”

D. Social media companies believe they have the power to censor speech that does not toe the line of their preferred set of ideals. Large corporations buy up competitors, making life easier and more profitable for themselves, but not necessarily better for the people.

The signs are there, if we just honestly look for them. And then work to reverse them.

Here is a recipe for restoring the quality of public education

There is a lot of controversy over things that are occurring in public education today. Things like rewarding excellence among students has taken a back seat to “equity,” which is making sure that all sub-groups share pretty much equally in benefits, whether earned or not. 

As an example, some schools have eliminated advanced math courses for all students because some sub-groups are not equally represented among students taking those courses, which punishes those high-achieving students. Some students are good at math, while others are not. And others may be good at history, languages, or the arts, and high achieving students deserve the opportunity to progress as far as they may want to in their areas of strength. 

Many high schools have multiple valedictorians, so as to not hurt the feelings of students who fell slightly short of winning the honor. There are other issues, as well, such as the invasion of Critical Race Theory in the curriculum.

An email last week contained a video that addressed this and other issues with public education by presenting an approach that focuses on what is really important in education, and how to get back to that focus. The points of that video, along with some quoted material follow.

It began with this introduction from the presenter: “If every high school principal gave the following speech, America would be a much better place.”

Then, speaking as the principal of a high school, he began: “To the students and faculty of our high school, I am your new principal, and honored to be so. There is no greater calling than to teach young people.”

He then explained the important changes coming to the school. 

1. This school will no longer honor race or ethnicity. He said the color of one’s skin, where their ancestors came from and how they got here, doesn’t matter. “The only identity this school will recognize is your individual identity: your character, your scholarship, your humanity.  And the only national identity this school will recognize is American.

This includes after school clubs that cultivate narcissism, an unhealthy preoccupation with the self, “while, the purpose of education is to get you to think beyond yourself.”

“This is an American public school, and American public schools were created to make better Americans. If you wish to affirm here an ethnic or racial identity, or a national identity other than American, you will have to attend another school.”

2. It does not matter whether English is your native language, what matters is that you leave this school writing and speaking English as fluently as possible.

It is the duty of the school to be sure that students are prepared to successfully compete in the job market, therefore students must leave this school with excellent language skills.

Other languages will be taught, he said, noting that unfortunately many or most American-born people speak only English.

3. Everything in this school will reflect learning’s elevated status. There will be a dress code for faculty and students. Students will address teachers by their title — Mr., Mrs., or Miss — not by their first names. They are your teachers, not your friends, and will be regarded with due respect.

4. No obscene language will be tolerated on this school’s property. This will help students learn the difference between “the elevated and the degraded,” and “the holy and the obscene.” In other words, you will show proper respect for each other.

5. We will end all self-esteem programs. “In this school, self-esteem will be attained one way, the only way self-esteem can be attained: by earning it.” Consequently, “graduating classes will have only one valedictorian, not eight.”

6. I am reorienting the school toward academics and away from politics and propaganda. Such topics as racism, sexism, Islamophobia, homophobia, global warming, tobacco or gender identity will not be part of the school atmosphere. And no time will be spent trying to convince any students that they are victims because of their particular circumstances. “This school will have failed if any of you graduate without considering him or herself inordinately lucky — lucky to be alive, lucky to be an American.”

He noted along the way that if these new rules did not sit well with some students, “this is not the right school for you.”

The principal then asked all to stand and join him in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to our country, adding that since many of them did not know the words, teachers would hand them out.

This video was created and distributed by Dennis Prager, an American conservative radio talk show host and writer. He is co-founder of PragerU, a non-profit organization that creates short videos on political, economic, and philosophical topics, such as this emailed video.

The importance of education to the future of America cannot be over-stated. Whether through unknowing influences or outright subversion, many public schools no longer adequately teach our young about the nature and substance of our country.

If this is not corrected very soon, millions more young people will be unable to understand what America is all about, and why its original principles must be continued into the future.

Biden has been more of a help than a hinderance to Russia

The big news of the last week is the Russian attack on its neighbor, Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin is doing this for one of two reasons, Russia observers tell us. 

One reason they say is that Putin is afraid. He is scared to death of democracy, which Ukraine is reportedly working toward. And he fears that Ukraine could become a part of NATO, which he views as a threat to Russian communism. This, despite NATO having said it does not want to admit Ukraine to the organization.

The other, the more likely reason, is that Putin desires to re-establish the former Soviet Union by retaking those nations that were freed when the communist state fell in 1991, a goal he has firmly expressed in the past.

While the threat of a Russian attack was building, the nations of the world, including the United States, did nothing more than issue mild warnings. Sanctions were threatened, some serious ones, but would not be put in place until after an attack. Sanctions as a deterrent to war were not thought to be useful. Last week, Russia began the attack. 

One of the most serious sanctions would be blocking Russia from participating in the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) banking system. This action has been described as a “Financial Nuclear Weapon.” As this is being written, “selected” Russian banks have been taken out of SWIFT, but not all of its banks.

“For the U.S. and its European allies, cutting Russia out of the SWIFT financial system would be one of the toughest financial steps they could take,” NBC News reported, “damaging Russia's economy immediately and in the long term. The move could cut Russia off from most international financial transactions, including profits from oil and gas production, which account for more than 40 percent of the country's revenue.”

The U.S. buys a good bit of oil and gasoline from Russia. Forbes reported, “The United States imported more gasoline and other refined petroleum products from Russia than any other country in 2021.”

According to Federal Customs Service records, the United States is the single largest buyer of Russia’s heavy-oil products, and during the first five months of this year, U.S. refiners bought nearly 20 percent of Russia’s heavy-oil exports.

That complicates things for the U.S. in placing sanctions on Russia to force the end of the war against Ukraine, especially if one of those sanctions is completely blocking Russia from participating in SWIFT.

This situation exists a fairly short time after the U.S. became a net energy exporter in 2020, after increases in the production of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids.

President Joe Biden had barely lowered his hand after taking the oath of office last year when he took actions that put the U.S. in a situation of supporting Russia, and at the same time making our country somewhat dependent upon it.

One action was stopping completion of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would have moved 830,000 barrels of oil per day to the U.S. from Canada. That would have substantially increased domestic energy production, perhaps to a level where buying oil and gasoline from Russia would no longer be needed.

A second action was stopping oil drilling on federal lands, thereby lessening the amount of domestic energy production. 

And Biden helped Russia directly by removing the U.S. opposition to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that benefits Russian energy sales, and will double Russia’s delivery of energy to Europe, bypassing pipelines in Ukraine and Poland in the process, a substantial financial benefit for Russia.

We have seen the price for a barrel of crude oil rise from $21.04 per barrel in April of 2020, during President Donald Trump’s administration, when energy independence was finally achieved after several decades, to more than $100 per barrel as of last week.

Biden has been more of a help than a hinderance to Russia when being a stalwart figure of opposition would have been much better. This mild stance followed his criticism of former President Trump’s tenure. 

In 2019, Biden said of Trump, “It’s going to take a hell of a lot of work to make up for all of the damage he’s done internationally and nationally.” Then, it seems, Biden said, “hold my beer!”

A cartoon post on Facebook put forth this question: What sanctions can Biden place on Russia?” To which the following answers were provided: Shut down their pipeline. Create supply chain nightmares. And, basically drive their economy into the ground. You know, like what he’s done to us.”

Somehow, that one escaped the censors’ knife.

Putin has put his nuclear forces on alert. This outrageous move ought to cause the most timid national leaders to get serious about the Putin threat.

Thus far, in opposition to his thuggery the world has effectively only stuck out its tongue at Putin. What he deserves, and requires, is to be knocked cold.