Europe has lost the energy war
Europe has lost the energy war
The continent is committing economic suicide - and all for nothing
Hi everyone. In my latest column for UnHerd I write about how Europe’s inept, incompetent and delusional political class, in its attempt to “hit Putin where it hurts the most”, has actually committed economic suicide, plunging the the continent into its worst energy crisis ever - while leaving Russia largely unscathed. Soaring energy prices are already fuelling record inflation — currently close to 9% and rising in the EU — squeezing people’s spending power, plunging thousands into poverty, and placing a huge burden on industry. Even worse, there are growing fears that dwindling Russian gas supplies may plunge Europe into a full-blown energy crisis this winter - which would have unimaginable consequences. Such levels of gross incompetence on the part of our leaders truly defy belief.
Best regards,
Thomas Fazi
Although it may be controversial, something must be said about the absolutely dreadful role the Greens have played in all of this, particularly in Germany. It is for me beyond a doubt that our societies can and must be better stewards of the natural world, and there is much to be done, not least engineering a graceful transition to a post-fossil fuel future. The fact that Germany (and the Netherlands, where I live, presumably other countries as well) is now reverting to burning more coal in an attempt to compensate for the loss of Russian gas demonstrates the complete bankruptcy of their strategy, regardless whether one is a climate change alarmist, skeptic, or denialist. The Greens as a party and a political movement appear to have been hijacked by ideologues with creepy Malthusian ideas. Like so much of the contemporary Left, they no interest in or understanding of basic economic issues, and appear to think that destroying the German economy and abruptly turning Europe into a post-industrial wasteland is all worth it in the pursuit of their Utopian post-carbon agenda. As I've written on my own Substack, not only are they leading us towards economic ruin, but this could well provoke a nasty anti-environmental backlash, undermining the important things that have been achieved as well as those that still need to be done in the future.