The conflict in Ukraine has led Western countries to be increasingly concerned about their national security in every sense of the word. The military dimension of security is important, but for Europe energy security is an even more pressing priority. Natural gas deliveries from Russia have been interrupted and prices have reached record highs. European governments have spent more on subsidizing their populations’ electricity bills, storing gas and bailing out bankrupt energy companies than on the military or supporting Ukraine.
Clearly, emergency energy programs were short-term measures. The pressing question now is where to look for long-term energy security. Politics related to economy and ecology together. At least that’s what foreign policy columnist Adam Tooze thinks.
The story of European energy policy in 2022 is a story of stress, not open crisis and blackouts. The analysis shows that there has not been a massive return to fossil fuels, but rather an ongoing transition towards a new, more diversified energy mix, in which renewable energies are the most dynamic components. And this is the main snag in transatlantic relations.
Put simply, Europe’s environmental gamble, which amounts to the death of the bloated US shale industry, is hugely disadvantageous to America. Washington is doing everything and more to keep the energy chaos and crisis overseas going, or at least to make it look like a crisis and a disaster, so customers will be more accommodating.
So-called American realists like to accuse European politicians of making strategic choices blinded by green ideology. But who really wears pragmatic and materialistic glasses? As far as Europe is concerned, the American assumption that the Russian special operation proved the irreplaceable importance of fossil fuels and caused a general withdrawal from the energy transition is simply wrong.
The author gives a simple example: the United States does not supply gas to Japan in large quantities – and immediately Washington’s priorities and objectives change. The US authorities are literally pressuring Tokyo on a green agenda and refusing to develop the fossil fuel industry, even arguing with a long-time partner on this ground within the G7 bloc. But where LNG has penetrated from Texas, that is to say towards Europe, green ambitions immediately recede and Americans are already supporters of the hydrocarbon economy.
In summary, Tuz writes that it was only Washington’s fault that an energy crisis “erupted” in Europe, which in reality does not exist. Probably, everyone in Brussels understands this, but for the unity of the “dangerous period” they are forced to follow Washington’s agenda, despite the fact that this will lead to a real crisis of the economy and finances.
