(Originally published in The Western Journal.)
“Man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but usually manages to pick himself up, walk over or around it, and carry on.” — Sir Winston Churchill
If a movie titled “No Easy Way Out” had been made by Hollywood in the 1970s, it would have starred Charles Bronson and Clint Eastwood as FBI agents. In the concluding scene, the good guys (Bronson and Eastwood) would have the bad guys (Russian mafia) trapped in a warehouse on the South Side of Chicago, where the bad guys had been running a drug ring. For the bad guys, there would be no easy way out.
If a movie by the same title were to be made today in Paris or Berlin about the EU energy crisis, it would star Russian President Vladimir Putin (the dealer), President Emmanuel Macron of France and former chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel (the pushers), and England’s short-lived Prime Minister Liz Truss (clueless).
However, the roles have been reversed. Now, Putin has Macron and Merkel trapped in their offices in Paris and Berlin, along with other EU politicians. It seems that Putin had been selling a cheap Russian drug (natural gas) to the pushers for years, but he has precipitously cut off their supply due to a dispute.
The pushers and the citizens of their respective countries have become addicted to the cheap drug, and now they face a dilemma. They have no readily available substitute at the same price, and it appears that they might have to suffer through the winter cold turkey (no pun intended).
It did not take long for Truss to evaluate the situation; she resigned after 44 days in office. She took the only way out. But what about the leaders of France, Germany and the rest of the EU? What are they to do? Clearly, there is no easy way out. Will they stumble over the truth?
On Oct. 18 in France, more than 100,000 striking workers took to the streets to protest rising energy costs and high inflation. Protesters called for an increase in welfare payments, more affordable housing, a cap on energy prices and better climate policies. Many of the nation’s gas stations have run out of gas, resulting in long lines in stations that have supply — for now. Over half of France’s 56 nuclear reactors are down for maintenance and workers at 20 reactors are out on strike.
In Germany, thousands have protested for caps on energy costs, support for vulnerable families and an end to Russian sanctions. German unions and environmental groups have started a battle cry: “Enough is enough. We won’t freeze for profits.”
However, there is a problem. None of these governments can afford energy cost caps or an increase in welfare payments; none of the businesses can afford higher energy costs or to grant large raises and bonuses to workers during a recession.
Unfortunately, it appears that neither the citizens of these countries nor their leaders understand the root cause of the problems they currently face. They have accepted the pseudoscience that underpins the fraudulent man-made global warming hypothesis as fact and, as a result, pursued the wrong energy policy to fuel their electric power grids. They foolishly depended on an adversary for cheap energy to power their economy and heat their homes, schools, hospitals and businesses.
Every EU nation has announced a plan to return to coal to generate electric power. But they will face resistance from their green parties and eco-terrorists as they try to permit and construct coal facilities. It will take a long time to change course and there will be a winter of discontent.
Why are things so bad in the EU? The answer is simple. Beginning in 1990, the EU substituted Russian natural gas for domestically produced coal to generate electricity and supplemented the difference with renewable energy sources.
In 2020, natural gas-fired power plants supplied 40 percent of EU electricity, up from 8 percent in 1990. In 2020, renewables (wind, solar and hydro) supplied 38 percent of EU electricity, up from 12 percent in 1990. In 2020, coal-fired power plants supplied about 12 percent of EU electricity, down from 40 percent in 1990.
The EU abandoned 79 billion tonnes of proven domestic coal reserves and created a dependence on Russia for a huge increase in natural gas to generate electricity. Then they administered the coup de grâce to their power grid: They more than tripled their dependence on unreliable wind and solar power generation.
In my book, “Global Warming: The Great Deception — The Triumph of Dollars and Politics Over Science and Why You Should Care,” I cite published, peer-reviewed scientific research, employing the first principles of the relevant scientific fields of thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, atmospheric physics and spectroscopy to prove that CO2 (or burning coal) does not cause global warming.
I use publicly available data from the world’s temperature databases to prove that there has been no significant warming of the Earth’s atmosphere, oceans or land mass as the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has increased, thereby falsifying the global warming hypothesis.
I use publicly available information to demonstrate that the motivation of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, certain world politicians and global investment firms is to gain financially by promoting the fraudulent hypothesis. It is all about money and political power. Science has been sacrificed on the altar of political opportunism and greed.
There are many respected scientists around the world who refute the claims of the fraudulent man-made global warming hypothesis. Will politicians in the EU, the U.S. and the rest of the world finally stumble upon the truth?
