It's Energy, Stupid!!

I continually pound the table that at the end of the day, the well being of the American economy is directly tied to the cost of energy. The ups and downs in the economy, albeit subject to other forces as well, are directly linked to the cost of energy in a straight forward manner that doesn’t need some academic economic whackadakic scholar to analyze it. When the cost of energy spikes, the economy tanks! It happens every single time. The inevitable recessions are severe. It has been this way since the oil crises in the mid 1970’s.

There are those who scream and yell that our government has no energy policy. They are wrong. The United States energy policy is to restrict and prohibit the development of new energy sources within the confines of our borders. Environmental concerns have been raised to a religion. We have put most of the oil reserves off limits to drilling, and have actively discouraged either through deliberate policy, accidental policy, or through the courts, the development of additional coal, natural gas, and nuclear options. Witness AEP shutting down one of the largest coal fired electric power plants in West Virginia because it can't comply with EPA standards. Even solar and wind farms are falling victim to the environmental whack jobs that have pretty much called the shots in my lifetime. And now we have a President whose Energy Chairman believes that $4.00/gallon gas is a good thing, and should go up. 

Couple that with a flawed Mideast policy where we failed to use our military strength and our courts to limit the power of OPEC when we were the only developed country in the world, we are now faced with China that is sopping up every bit of energy that is available! For the first time China has surpassed the United States as the world’s largest consumer of energy.

Now we have our most inexperienced President, who bows to the King of Saudi Arabia, dealing with chaos in the Mideast. The liberal press talks about the Arab Spring. The winds of freedom are blowing. Not quite.

Last week’s meeting of OPEC proved to be a disaster. The friction between Saudi Arabian and Iran is at a new high as both deserted the conclave. Much of the turmoil in the Mideast has been fueled and fermented by Iran. This isn’t a benevolent democratic movement. This is Iran laying the groundwork to become the dominant player in the Mideast, and foretell the destruction of Israel

The Saudi royal family is shaking under their white robes and dark glasses. And ironically, is once again looking to the United States to defend them as they did in the first Iraq war (and subsequently shoved it up our posterior). The quid pro quo is so obvious that I can’t believe the press is not putting two and two together. We defend the Saudi’s; they break with OPEC and start to pump oil to stabilize the price. That is exactly what is happening as the United States is stepping up its efforts in the war in Yemen under the radar of Congress and the press.

This is a dangerous game. Since the fall of the Shah of Iran, the United States has been dancing around the two main problems in the Mideast: OPEC and Iran. Sooner or later, whether we like it or not, we are going to have to fight Iran. It would have been easier in during the Iranian hostage crisis. Now Iran will have a nuclear weapon, and those religious fanatics will not be afraid to use it.

Meanwhile, we still are prohibiting energy growth in the United States. Until such time as our government removes the shackles of the EPA on our energy well being, we are in big trouble, and look for a falling standard of living unprecedented in our history. Here’s the bad news. With the EPA and Energy Department promulgating all of those nice carbon emissions regulations as the liberal capitalists get rich selling air, don’t look for that to happen anytime soon.

I firmly believe that ALL of the problems in the United States economy are ultimately linked to energy.  Energy independence is the holy grail to the solution of our economic problems, and is within our grasp.  All it takes is common sense and some leadership.  If you find some, let me know.