Foreign Energy Dependence Is Exactly What China Wants

When Russia invaded Ukraine, American energy prices spiked, compounding on top of a series of Biden policies that had already increased the cost of energy. The president had already restricted supply by handcuffing domestic energy producers, and Russia’s aggression exacerbated the situation.

Biden is doing everything he can to block pipelines and new wells, except in Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Venezuela. When he took office, the United States was energy-independent, on its way to energy dominance. Americans had low gas prices and their utility bills were stable because we had enough fuel to meet domestic demands. What a difference a year makes.

Rising oil prices cause every product to become more expensive. This is partially because fossil fuels are made into 6,000 everyday products — including toothbrushes, cars (even electric ones), clothes, and cell phones.

Additionally, oil is needed to transport food from farm to table. Rising transportation costs partially explain why there has been an 8% spike in grocery prices. The growing costs of staples, including food and energy, hurt the poor and middle class the most because they can afford it the least.

The president and his allies are pursuing policies that decrease America’s energy supply because of a problem that may or may not happen a century from now. They are living in the future while ignoring the present dangers of Russia and communist China.

China is growing its production and use of coal, oil, and natural gas. The Chinese Communist Party is stockpiling and building its fossil fuel reserves. They are spending far more on growing these energy-dense fuels than on unreliable renewables, even if Bloomberg and other news outlets want you to believe that the CCP cares about the environment.

China is the second-largest economy globally and grew 8% in 2021. At this rate, they will double their economy in less than ten years and surpass the United States as the world’s largest economy in less than five years.

The CCP isn’t achieving this growth because of renewable energy. China’s emissions are more than all the developed nations combined. China burns more than half the 8.5 billion tons of coal used each year, and they are building and bringing online hundreds of coal plants and coal mines. The communist Chinese government also owns Sinopec and PetroChina, the two largest oil companies in the world.

Living in the real world is important when Vladimir Putin is invading his neighbors. China could be planning to invade Taiwan, which dominates computer chip manufacturing, including the most advanced chips which companies, including Apple and Qualcomm, use in their products. The CCP will exploit American energy weakness in any way it can to help achieve its goals.

Meanwhile, the hard left and their green allies want Biden to declare a climate emergency to further their unrealistic and now dangerous climate nonsense. Our climate has been changing for millions of years, and it will always change. No matter what we do. It has been gently warming out of the Little Ice Age, aka preindustrial times, since 1850.

Climate activists want us to turn to wind and solar technology that produces little or no energy 70% of the time. This gap means we must pay for and have enough full-time electric power too. The massive unreliability of electricity supplied by wind and solar is the elephant in the room. No one on the left wants to talk about it.

Europe has dusted off its mothballed coal plants to meet its energy needs. And there are more than 400 coal plants being built around the world. The climate crazies in America want to speed up the planned closing of America’s coal plants. They don’t care if we have enough other power lined up to keep the lights and air conditioning running. This should concern every American.

We need policies that will lead us to energy dominance, not to dependency on our enemies. Expect higher prices and a less secure world until the shackles come off the American fossil fuel industry.

Frank Lasee is a former Wisconsin state senator and former member of Gov. Scott Walker’s administration. The district he represented had two nuclear power plants, a biomass plant, and numerous wind towers. He has experience dealing with energy, the environment, and the climate.

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