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…Europe’s Rendezvous with Destiny… Donn Dears July 12, 2022 Europe’s obsession with eliminating fossil fuels has led it to the brink of disaster. By relying on Russian energy to avoid developing its own, Europe has placed itself at Russia’s mercy. This strategic dependency is now abundantly clear as Russia throttles back on shipments of natural gas, with an implied threat of ending all natural gas shipments. Europe has no choice but to take emergency measures to replace Russian natural gas with imports from other countries. But there is little natural gas readily available on the world market, and severe shortages of natural gas loom over Europe. Some observers say this threat will result in Europe coming to its senses about catastrophic climate change and the abandoning of fossil fuels. This, however, could be wishful thinking. The power of environmental crusaders remains intact as the EU agrees to eliminate the use of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles by 2035. CLEW (The Clean Energy Wire) reported: “On June 29, EU member states approved the end of fossil fueled passenger cars in 2035.’” Germany’s environment minister Steffi Lemke, said: “The EU Member States have voted by an overwhelming majority that from 2035, only cars and light commercial vehicles that do not emit CO2 will be registered.” While the proposal still must be approved by the European Parliament, it hardly seems to indicate a wavering of Europe’s commitment to eliminating fossil fuels.
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As in the United States, the European car industry is investing in battery-powered vehicles (BEVs) and the manufacture of lithium-ion batteries, while abandoning support for traditional ICE vehicle engines and power trains. The capability to manufacture ICE vehicles will be eviscerated by these actions. It won’t take until 2035 to destroy Europe’s ability to manufacture ICE vehicles.
Source European Union The threat of a cold winter could be crucial. Realization of how winter may affect public opinion, could cause European politicians to encourage Ukraine to accept a peace agreement with Russia in an attempt to restore natural gas supplies to Europe before the winter months. This would be a Faustian bargain. The fact remains, shortages of natural gas this winter will devastate European industry and prevent people from heating their homes. If industries lay off workers and people shiver in their homes due to a lack of natural gas, there may be a political change among voters that will blunt the power of the Greens. At the moment, however, there is little change in the rhetoric about catastrophic climate change. The Greens are in control.
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Europe is proceeding full bore with its energy transition from fossil fuels … no matter the consequences. Europe faces a rendezvous with destiny. 1. Will it choose to abandon its energy transition and revive the production and use of fossil fuels, as well as nuclear? 2. Or, will it continue with its fixation on policies that eliminate the use of fossil fuels, which would likely lead to profound economic decay and geopolitical irrelevancy? At the moment, alternative 2 seems most likely.
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