By Kevin Judge | July 25, 2018
If Trump is in Putin’s pocket, he has a funny way of showing it.
The announcement yesterday that the European Union will purchase $150 Billion in American Natural Gas was hardly good news for the former KGB officer. Every penny comes out of the pockets of Putin and his Oligarch supporters, who rely on energy exports to prop up an otherwise failing economy.
A common image of Trump is as a person that is erratic and lacks a long-term plan. His tweets and emotional responses to personal attacks feed this view.
However, Trumps actions recently with the European Union actually belie that. They are consistent with his pronouncement early in his term that we are entering an “age of American energy dominance” and of his willingness to use that to America’s advantage globally. A ban on the export of natural gas was lifted during the Obama administration, but the then President was more than reluctant to promote a resource that he demonized as a planet killer. Besides, dominating other countries was forbidden under the Obama doctrine.
Fossil fuels are not an anathema to this President, just resources to use to our advantage. It has taken some time and investment to build the export facilities in the US and the processing facilities in Europe, but we are ready to go. Now we just need customers and Trump is taking care of business.
If exploiting American energy dominance is the strategy, then calling out Europeans on their willingness to rely on energy from the Russian Bear is a consistent follow through. If the threat of Russian designs on Europe is still a valid reason for the NATO military alliance, then why the heck is Germany building a multi-billion dollar pipeline to be supplied with Russian natural gas? Putin has said that the collapse and partial dissolution of the Soviet Union was a tragedy. What better step toward getting the old band back together again than making Europe dependent on Russian Oil, like an addict dependent on their drug dealer.
The media’s interpretation of the NATO Summit is that it was a disaster because of Trump’s rude and inconsistent behavior. How dare he point out the elephant, or Russian Bear in the room! Besides being rude, it is inconsistent with the narrative of Trump as Russian stooge. So, can’t talk about that. Truth is, the announcement with the European Union and the gas deal makes one think that Trump is having his way with our European cousins. Trump may be a bully, but these folks are easily cowered.
The very idea of an American being an exporter of energy resources runs counter to other cherished narratives about the scarcity and depletion of fossil fuels. It is also a politically incorrect as a climate change policy. By the way, I never could understand how fossil fuels could be such a great threat to the planet if there was also a shortage crisis. Alarmists projected them to be depleted by the time their projected negative impacts of their usage take hold!
Trump has his crazy moments, but this is not one of them. American energy is good for American and good for the world economy and global security. The less leverage energy suppliers like Russia, Iran and are occasional friends in the middle east have over us the better.