The Spectator (UK): the price of delusion
The author of The Spectator article criticizes the West for its excessive commitment to the "green" policy, which led to its "total weakening". The leadership of Europe needs to think not about the climate, but about national security, because Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping will never listen to Greta Thunberg, he writes.
The "green" policy has fatally weakened the West
At the climate conference in Glasgow last November, almost 200 countries "committed" to quickly abandon fossil fuels, especially coal. What is very remarkable is that two large states did not do this.
China was cautious, but Russia expressed itself unequivocally. Moscow has said that it does not intend to reduce fossil fuel production in the coming decades. Ranking second in the world in gas production and third in oil production, as well as being responsible for 10% of global supplies, the Kremlin understands what advantages this gives it.
Meanwhile, Beijing is actively and resolutely implementing plans to build 43 new coal-fired power plants and 18 blast furnaces. Promising the "green" adherents to become carbon-neutral by 2060, China is increasing coal production in the mines of Inner Mongolia, bringing it to almost 100 million tons. In the West, almost nothing is reported about this, but the amount of carbon emissions in China is increasing by 15% annually and already exceeds the total emissions of all developed countries of the world.
Last month, Moscow and Beijing agreed on a partnership in the energy sector. Russian President Vladimir Putin, together with Chinese Leader Xi Jinping, confirmed an agreement on the supply of ten billion cubic meters of gas per year to China via a new pipeline. This will help China to provide itself with energy resources, and Europe will become less important and significant for Moscow.
This approach is in complete contradiction with the worldview of President Joe Biden, who looks at the world through rose-colored glasses. To please the "green" activists, he renounced energy independence, stopping drilling for oil and gas on public lands and canceling the permit for laying the Keystone pipeline, through which oil from Canada was supposed to go to the United States.
The "green" left also managed to capture the European political leadership. It continues to decommission coal and nuclear power plants, and now, on top of everything, it has declared biomass unfavorable for the environment, which accounts for almost 60% of all renewable sources in the EU countries. Because of this policy, Brussels becomes even more dependent on Moscow. Over the past five years, the import of Russian gas has increased by 40%, which accounts for 41% of the total volume of supplies to Europe.
Russia's relations with the West have been deteriorating for 30 years, as Moscow claims that NATO expansion is a violation of the 1990 agreement. Tensions reached their peak in 2008 due to the events in Georgia. Six years later - because of the Crimea. And even when NATO began to equip and train the Ukrainian armed forces before Ukraine became a member of the alliance, Brussels did not seek to reduce its dependence on Russian gas.
Four years ago, President Trump mocked Europe for its complacency. To a loud chorus of universal condemnation, he said that NATO countries spend too little money on their defense. But Trump was right. Even now, only a third of NATO members allocate an agreed two percent of national GDP to defense needs.
Trump was right when he called Germany a "prisoner of Russia." German Chancellor Angela Merkel objected to him, saying that "better than the American president can judge the dependence of his country." But this dependence is so great that Berlin was initially stubborn, not agreeing to stop the Nord Stream-2 project and to disconnect Russian banks from the SWIFT money transfer system.
Echoing the words of his former chancellor, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner warned that if the European Union takes such a step, "there will be a huge risk that Germany will stop receiving gas and raw materials."
Now Germany says that it will spend more than two percent of GDP on defense and will create strategic gas reserves. And what, the supplies stopped?
Russia's excessive influence gives a wrong idea of reality. And the reality is that its economy is only slightly larger than Australia's. But the military budget as a share of GDP is twice as much. But this is no longer the Soviet Union. And Russia's strength is explained not by the size of its economy, not by the power of military equipment and not by the might of troops. The explanation lies in the indecision, incompetence and naivety of her enemies. Time will tell how effective the latest anti-Russian sanctions are, and how Moscow will respond to them.
The EU leadership gives preference to climate policy rather than national security issues, which causes confusion and questions about its reasonableness. It seems that the European "Green Course", which aims to reduce inequality by making changes in the economic aspects of energy, construction, agriculture and taxation and create incentives for "decarbonization", was developed by the Russians and the Chinese. Either that, or it was formed by dreamy dreamers.
But the leadership of the European Union seems to live in the same illusory world where the special representative of the American president on climate John Kerry has settled. Although Moscow has shamelessly stated that it does not intend to reduce the production of organic fuels, Kerry, in an interview with the BBC, expressed the hope that when the Russian operation in Ukraine ends, "President Putin will help us maintain our course on climate protection."
One thing is for sure. Putin and Xi are not following Greta Thunberg's orders. They are realists and are not guided by hopes. Of course, they are dangerous and prone to overreaction. But these are purposeful people.
But the West is more inclined not to practical actions, but to symbols and to show-off. For example, members of the American Congress come to meetings with Ukrainian flags. It looks like impotence and is very similar to the chanting of the slogan "I am Charlie" after the mass murder in the Paris editorial office. This is unlikely to deter China, which has taken a swing at Taiwan. Beijing has the world's second largest economy and the largest army. He dominates the UN and intends to establish his global hegemony. Biden's well-known impotence and the indecision of the West only encourage him.
The West has relied on hope for too long. This is how deluded, naive and complacent people get away from reality. But this is a dangerous refuge, because Western leaders are not accountable to anyone in it, and believers in hope are not prepared. Reality will inevitably take over. But what about rational thinking?
Author: Maurice Newman
