Commentary: Big Tent Ideas

DAVID BLACKMON: When It Comes To Energy Dependence On Other Countries, Americans Have An Easy Choice

A crude oil pump. (Screen Capture/PBS NewsHour)

Dear Americans: Would you rather be dependent on Canada and your domestic oil and gas industry, or on China for your energy security? That is the choice that has been highlighted since the conflict with Iran kicked off Feb. 28.

That reality is illustrated in a post by one person on X who wrote on Wednesday, “Has anybody noticed, when there’s a Middle East war, neither solar nor wind energy get any more expensive? And solar and wind don’t get stuck in the Strait of Hormuz!”

To which the only correct response is, “Has anybody noticed that when it gets dark, or it snows, or the wind stops blowing, or it rains, or it gets too cold, or it gets too hot, we end up getting bupkis from wind and solar?”

It is true that oil markets can be volatile and subject to disruption, as they are right now. We’ve learned that the hard way many times over the last century. Countries that, unlike the United States under President Donald Trump, rely on Middle East crude for their daily supplies, are especially vulnerable to these market whims. Those vulnerable countries include China, Japan, India, and other Asian markets, and, to a slightly lesser extent, the U.K. and Europe.

Renewables fans love to claim the alternative to such a dangerous dependency on imported oil is readily available in wind and solar, but that simply amounts to trading one dangerous dependency for another, possibly even more dangerous dependency. After all, who makes the vast majority of those solar panels?

China.

And which country makes most of those wind turbines and gigantic wind blades?

China.

And which country manufactures most of those stationary batteries used to back up solar and wind?

Welp, that would be China, yet again.

But wait, there’s more.

Even for the few solar panels, wind turbines, wind blades, and stationary batteries that aren’t assembled in China, which country controls the global supply chains for the parts and components that go into them?

Oops. That would also be China.

Since pretty much the day this mad globalist dash to a glorious government-forced energy transition kicked off in earnest a decade ago, I and other critics consistently warned that literally every alternative offered by the climate alarm advocates would have the inevitable impact of rendering the United States and other nations entirely dependent on China for their future energy security. It is simply undeniable.

Worse, that undeniable truth is not limited to wind and solar. It applies every bit as much to the transportation alternative offered up by the alarmists: Electric Vehicles. Like stationary batteries, the massive batteries that power those EV’s are made in China, as are the parts and components that go into the motor assemblies. If you drive an EV, it doesn’t matter which company makes it, you are driving a largely China-sourced and China-controlled product.

No country on earth is entirely de-linked from this stark reality. But the United States does enjoy a much higher level of real energy security than almost all other developed countries. As a net exporter of oil, the U.S. produces almost all of what it needs. And what we don’t produce at home we import from fellow Western Hemisphere nations like Canada, Venezuela, and Mexico, with very little coming from the Middle East. Where natural gas is concerned, we produce so much more than we can possibly consume at home that we’ve become far and away the largest exporter of LNG with all the attendant economic benefits that come with that status.

So, take your pick, dear readers: Would you rather be dependent on China, or on your domestic oil and gas producers combined with Canada, Mexico, and Venezuela for your energy security? Because that’s what this all boils down to at the end of the day.

The choice doesn’t seem that hard, does it?

David Blackmon is an energy writer and consultant based in Texas. He spent 40 years in the oil and gas business, where he specialized in public policy and communications.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.

(Featured Image Media Credit: Screen Capture/PBS NewsHour)