Cultural suicide is all the rage in Europe these days, with the UK and Germany busily destroying themselves, and France, Belgium, The Netherlands, and Spain not far behind, all fighting for primacy in the race to surrender to the left and to Islam. They have also run full-tilt towards a “carbonless future,” even though the world economy runs on oil and gas, and it is an impossibility to shift away from them without a massive degradation in standards of living.
But never mind the facts! They are closing nuclear plants and coal mines and trying to shut down oil and gas production and exploration, while pushing for an all-electric economy.
So it is a pleasure to see a European country doing something right for a change. Norway has correctly identified the illogic in cutting petroleum production and use while simultaneously cutting nuclear. The numbers just don’t work, and apparently somebody in Norway knows how to add.
Norway Plans More Oil, Gas Exploration in Arctic, Bucks EU Push for Moratorium
Norway will ignore the European Union’s demands for a moratorium on hydrocarbon exploration in the Arctic Circle and continue drilling for oil and gas in the Barents Sea, the country’s energy minister said.
Speaking before Norway’s biannual energy conference, which began in Stavanger on Aug. 24, Norwegian Energy Minister Terje Aasland said Oslo had a right to develop its own sovereign resources.
“In today’s geopolitical and security environment, and given the resource situation, I believe continued activity in the Barents Sea serves both Norwegian and European interests,” Aasland said.
Without exploration and bringing new wells on-line, their current production would decrease until…wait for it…they won’t have enough oil and gas for their customers (Europe) and themselves. And all of that sweet foreign money that flows to Norway to fund their soft socialism would slow, and Norwegians might have to work harder to support their 200,000 Muslims.
Reality is smacking Europe in the face! Green insanity can never provide enough power to run even the most basic services, and the dirty little secret of the bien pensants is that they still need oil and gas…and lots of it. When tens of thousands of Europeans die every summer because they can’t afford air conditioning, and their governments won’t allow them even if they could, something is broken. And it is the cradle-to-grave welfare state that so many crave.
Economics is a cold-hearted bitch, and it says that when too much productive work is captured by government, growth slows, innovation slows, and wealth creation slows. That is what has happened to Europe, and its Green insanity is just accelerating its plunge into 3rd world status.
That is a direct result of the policies of the EU and its member states. They are driving their populations into poverty, all in service to their ultimate goal of a socialist/Green nirvana. It doesn’t exist, and will never exist, but they keep trying!
Oceans of power, from petroleum, nuclear, coal, hydro-electric, and natural gas is what drives wealth. Our great industrial awakening of the 19th century was powered by coal, and even our new technological revolution in AI will be powered by traditional sources. As the United States cautiously embraces nuclear, and returns to petroleum as an inexpensive and simple power source, we will continue to outpace the sclerotic EU.
Make no mistake…the “Green New Deal” and all of the other fantastical and impossible plans for a carbonless America have one goal, and that is the centralization of power in service of socialism. A country that provides endless opportunity for its citizens is a poor candidate for socialism. But a country sinking into an existential malaise of worsening standards of living, onerous regulation, and restricted travel is a fine candidate for that socialist nirvana that is always just over the horizon.