Opec..

 

Biden's followed the Far Left's "Climate Change." First day in the office, I will do executive decisions to cancel the Key Stone Pipeline, followed by impeding drilling in federal lands.

That caused trippling the prices of gas and energy.

Then adding more fuel to the fire in the Ukraine conflict that most likely encouraged by the USA. Another world wide food shortages to occur soon, and increase the poor countries children misery.

Opec is not moving against their own interests but the Biden's administration is terrified from the next US election in November.  Biden opened up the Strategic oil reserve, 180 Million Barrel of oil to be released in addition to the previous releases.

Just a thought.

Energy..

 

Europe was already in an energy crisis in 2020 and 2021, with the cost of CO2 permits soaring and wholesale electricity prices reaching record-high levels by December 2021.

Europe does not “depend on Russian gas.” It is codependency. Russia needs Europe to export, and Europe has no cheaper alternative. Let us remember that Russian gas is much cheaper than any other realistic alternative.

The long-term contracts signed with Gazprom are closed at prices that can be up to ten times lower than some of the current alternatives. The 150 billion cubic meters that Europe imports from Russia can be replaced with liquefied natural gas from Norway and the North Sea, the United States, Algeria, Qatar, or Israel, but it will be much more expensive.

 If Russia sees that European governments ban nuclear power, prohibit the development of indigenous gas reserves, intervene in imports, and add massive CO2 taxes, Russian authorities will know that there is no competitive alternative and that European industry and consumers will collapse due to the rising cost of energy

European governments should think hard about misguided policies when the continent has been saved this winter by natural gas imported from the United States produced with fracking, a technology that has been banned in Europe.

Europe created their own problems by following the American apetite for war and for Anti-Russia sentiiment.

Trump Rule..

 

The Supreme Court reinstated for now a Trump-era rule that curtails the power of states and Native American tribes to block pipelines and other energy projects that can pollute rivers, streams and other waterways.  

In a decision that split the court 5-4, the justices agreed to halt a lower court judge’s order throwing out the rule. The high court’s action does not interfere with the Biden administration’s plan to rewrite the rule. Work on a revision has begun, but the administration has said a final rule is not expected until the spring of 2023. The Trump-era rule will remain in effect in the meantime.  

The Biden administration had told the justices in a court filing that it agreed that the U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup lacked the authority to throw out the rule without first determining that it was invalid. But the administration had urged the court not to reinstate the rule, saying that in the months since, officials have adapted to the change.

Economics..

 

David Rubenstein, the billionaire investor and cofounder of The Carlyle Group also cautioned the Federal Reserve's interest-rate hikes will curtail economic growth, explained why he's become less skeptical of cryptocurrencies, and predicted the crypto trend won't fade anytime soon.

  "Russia-Ukraine, as the global economy was beginning to recover from COVID, we now find ourselves in a free-fall a bit, in terms of the global economy. 

We're seeing a dramatic decline in obviously the Russian economy and the Ukrainian economy but it's spilling over into the European economy, and to some extent, the US economy. 

Until that issue is resolved, I don't think we're going to really know how the global economy is going to perform over the next year or so."

"Many people are going to look at whether the US economy is now going to be needing some stimulus. It was growing back after COVID, but now it's going to be stalling a little bit because of Russia." 

(Rubenstein gave the example of US airlines not being able to fly over Russia, and the increased difficulty of shipping goods across some national borders now.)

Demonize..

 

Europe wants cheap and abundant energy, but politicians demonize nuclear, gas, and oil. All the interventionist proposals that are put forward by European politicians entail a higher cost for long-suffering consumers.

Natural gas flows all the time and is cheap and abundant. It cannot be substituted with renewables that are intermittent, volatile, and unpredictable. 

The example of Germany is clear. After investing massively in renewables and doubling bills for consumers, it depends more on lignite coal and Russian gas to guarantee supply. 

Germany has had to reactivate coal plants after spending more than $200 billion on subsidies and renewables!

All technologies are necessary, and renewables are key, but they are not the alternative because they need natural gas backup while the technology is developed, as it is still in its infancy.  

All the "magical" alternatives that interventionism sells mean going from depending on Russia to depending on China. Where are we going to get the silicon, aluminum, rare-earths, copper, lithium, etc. necessary for those massive magical investments announced?

Demonizing nuclear energy has left Europe in the hands of expensive and volatile alternatives. The energy transition must be considered with an understanding of the importance of security of supply and competitiveness. We need all technologies, without ideological bias. We need solar, wind, natural gas, hydro, oil, and nuclear, or we will go from crisis to crisis, and always pay more.

Wheat..

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said on Twitter that he plans to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday, marking the first in-person meeting between Putin and a European Union leader since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February.

Ukraine’s economic output will likely contract by a staggering 45.1% this year due to Russia’s invasion, the World Bank said on Sunday in a new assessment of the war’s economic impacts.

The World Bank also forecast Russia’s 2022 GDP output to fall 11.2% due to punishing financial sanctions imposed by the United States and its Western allies on Russia’s banks, state-owned enterprises and other institutions.

The World Bank’s Eastern Europe region, comprising Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, is forecast to show a GDP contraction of 30.7% this year, due to shocks from the war and disruption of trade.

For Ukraine, the World Bank report estimates that over half of the country’s businesses are closed, while others still open are operating at well under normal capacity. The closure of Black Sea shipping from Ukraine has cut off some 90% of the country’s grain exports and half of its total exports.

With that, the desire for war/revenge continues and the demand for weapon continued. 

Just a thought.

Foe..

 

After the Cold War, the US overturned the European security agenda and rejected Russia's bid to join NATO four times. The aim was to make Russia the imaginary foe to justify US hegemony. Since 1999, the US launched five major NATO expansions, pushing its borders eastward by more than 1,000 kilometers to include a large number of Eastern European countries, splitting Europe further, posing a realistic threat at the doorstep of Russia. 

Due to the hegemonic mentality and actions by the US, the vision of indivisible common security broke into pieces, and Russia, Ukraine and Europe were left in a security dilemma and constant conflicts. 

Former US congressman Tulsi Gabbard stated in a recent interview that President Joe Biden could have ended the crisis by promising not to admit Ukraine to NATO. But he didn't, because the US is seeking an excuse to impose sanctions on Russia, and it could profit from war for the American military-industrial complex. 

Ukraine has become another victim in a series of global security crises instigated by the US, just like Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. Now the hegemonic power is pushing for an Asian version of NATO expansion via its Indo-Pacific Strategy, aiming to contain China. 

[GT-Opinion By Xin Ping 3/20/2022]

Culprit..

 "Let the gull'd fool the toils of war pursue, where bleed the many to enrich the few," wrote the 18th-century English poet William Shenstone. 

That is what is exactly happening during the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Whether it's the people of war-torn Ukraine, sanction-ridden Russia, or insecurity-ingrained Europe, all have suffered greatly. The US, the culprit of the Ukraine crisis, has been constantly taking advantage of others' misfortune to maintain its hegemony.

Every why has a wherefore. Edward Carr, a leading British scholar of international relations, reminded people more than 80 years ago that the US was a master in using kindness to disguise selfishness. Boasting abundant resources, strong industry and geographical advantage, 

Ukraine could have achieved development. While the country pursued a relatively balanced policy in the early years of its independence, the US supported and incited the Orange Revolution in 2004 and the Square Revolution in 2014 to push for a pro-Western agenda, splitting Ukraine politically from within and geopolitically between Russia and Europe.

 It is really thought-provoking that the "Gateway to Europe" has become one of the poorest countries in Europe, the frontline of NATO's eastward expansion, and the fault line of "color revolutions" and conflicts.   [GT-Opinion By Xin Ping 3/20/2022]

End-game..

 A Ukrainian delegation warned U.S. officials in Washington this week that security assistance packages are not arriving quick enough in the besieged country, a plea that comes amid Western security claims that the Kremlin will soon intensify its military campaign.

Over the past week, the delegation of Ukrainian civil society advocates, military veterans and former government officials met with 45 lawmakers, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, officials at the departments of State and Defense and the National Security Council at the White House.

Kaleniuk added that U.S. lawmakers and Biden administration officials outlined a number of justifications for why certain weapons systems cannot be delivered, citing logistics issues, lack of inventory and bureaucratic limitations.

The Ukranians been asking for everything starting from No-fly Zone, to major involvement of the west regardless if this will start a world war3.

What is their end game at this time?  Just a thought.

R..

 

Higher inflation will force consumers to limit their spending by so much that the economy will slump into a recession by the July-September quarter, former Federal Reserve Governor Lawrence Lindsey said.

“Inflation is eating into consumer spending power, they’re going to have to cut back,” he said.

Lindsey said the Fed eventually will have to increase its benchmark interest rate higher than consumer price inflation — now running at an 8% annual rate — in order to get prices in check. At the moment, the Fed’s benchmark interest rate is in a range of 0.25% – 0.5%.

The Labor Department estimates that earnings adjusted for inflation fell by 2.6% over the 12 months ending in February 2022.