Posted on 03/20/2014 7:18:07 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has declared the G8 to be dead, thanks to Russia’s take over of the Crimea:
German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared the Group of Eight leading nations defunct given the current crisis in Ukraine, in a clear message to Russia that the world’s seven other major industrialized countries consider its actions in Ukraine unacceptable. “As long as there is no political environment for such an important political format as the G-8, the G-8 doesn’t exist anymore, not the summit nor the format,” said Ms. Merkel, in Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag. “Russia is widely isolated in all international organizations,” the chancellor said.
Ah, yes, the old “isolated in all international organizations” gambit. And what have all the “international organizations” done in reaction to Russia’s Crimean takeover? About what they did when Russia pushed into Georgia. A whole lot of nothing. It is one thing to have international organizations that have teeth and are willing to do something in reaction to such a blatant act. But when they mostly issue statements condeming the action and void the Netflix accounts of certain Russian officals, being isolated from those organizations isn’t such a big deal. All it does is make further diplomatic efforts more difficult, not that it is clear that Russia is open to diplomatic overtures.
Another thing that is happening is Europe is discovering it has managed to put itself in an energy situation that isn’t at all to its advantage. 30% of Europe’s natural gas flows through Russian pipelines (Germany gets 40% of its natural gas supplies from Russia).
So the scramble is purportedly on to change that situation.
European leaders will seek ways to cut their multi-billion-dollar dependence on Russian gas at talks in Brussels on Thursday and Friday, while stopping short of severing energy ties with Moscow for now. EU officials said the current Ukraine crisis had convinced many in Europe that Russia was no longer reliable and the political will to end its supply dominance had never been greater. “Everyone recognises a major change of pace is needed on the part of the European Union,” one EU official said on condition of anonymity. As alternatives to imported gas, the Brussels talks will debate the European Union’s “indigenous supplies”, which include renewable energy and shale gas.
Now, one would think that such a situation would call for drastic and speedy action. Anyone want to bet how long they dither and, should they decide to exploit their “indigenous supplies”, how onerous the rules and regulations will be?
When leaders of the European Union’s member states meet today and tomorrow (20-21 March) in Brussels, they hope to reach consensus on the EU’s long-term climate goals. But agreement appears unlikely because of deep divisions between east and west. Ahead of the summit, ministers from 13 member states signed a declaration supporting a European Commission proposal for an EU commitment to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 40% from 1990 levels by 2030 – up from a 20% target set for 2020. This ‘green growth group’ includes France, Germany, Italy and the UK. But Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia are wary of the target and the timeline, and are resisting any such commitment.
The latter group will most likely be all for moving ahead as speedily as possible to exploit “indigenous supplies”. They’ll meet some pretty stiff headwinds, apparently, from the Western EU nations. You can almost see this train wreck coming.
Meanwhile in the pursuit of “green energy”, Europe is apparently ready to toss in the towel:
Governments across Europe, regretting the over-generous deals doled out to the renewable energy sector, have begun reneging on them. To slow ruinous power bills hikes, governments are unilaterally rewriting contracts and clawing back unseemly profits.
You have to laugh. ”Unseemly profits”? They’re subsidies, sir. Not profit.
It’ll be interesting to see if the EU has the will to sort this all out in the next couple of days. If one is a betting person, you’d have to guess that the odds for success are long, given the EU’s recent history.
Well, I was including the time for the governments to talk it over, and the regulators to decide if it was permissable, and the greenies to stop protesting, and the courts to approve, and so on.
Whole lot of foot dragging.
No, the DOE is sitting on export applications from companies located in the U.S. And your solution is not simple at all, since it takes years to sign a FTA with anyone.
I'm just going by what your story said. The DOE is sitting on exports to countries that have erected trade barriers against us. No barriers, no holdups. As for the time it takes to remove those barriers, I would say that's up to the country who wants our LNG. It's their actions that are the impediment, not our's. If they want our imports that much then they can change their trade policy in other areas and smooth the way.
Again, in order for your “simple” solution to happen, years of negotiation must take place. Failing that, a law written in 1938 must be repealed. Good luck with that.
Then I guess the don’t want our LNG that badly after all.
I still think Putin will pull out of this and oil will stabilize.....
Brussels Summit ...Clearly Eu?Nato is not going to do more than arm, possibly, Ukraine..and Nato admitance is off the table....Prime Minister even announced not in Ukraine’s interest. Ukraine’s financial picture is bleak at best and the EU will not close financial aid deal until a new government is in place and operating effeciently. So they are basically on their own.
Further..Brussels discussions allude to Wales EU summit ahead which would change how nations are admitted into the Nato....Poll taken at meeting 52% voted for ONLY supporting defense to countries which are Nato Members...out of four options presented.
Meanwhile while they’re trying to determine how to approach Russia’s advances....general opinion is they can do very little...Further recognizing the obvious that the USA will not be part of further crisis’s is generally understood now at Nato..as Obama has demonstrated.... as has been known in the past by other Us Presidents.
... Countries who have not been building defenses because they’ve depended on USA, will have to depend on NAto...thus Nato intends to increase defense spending via EU...which neither has a good relationship between them.
So...Nobody will be going to war for Crimea or Ukraine as it stands now.....Putin knows this and what Obama does in sanctions will end shortly...Putin knows this as well.
Basically this is posturing for the USA...further today Russia announced it will no longer play tit for tat with the US on sanctions.
This is all a done deal and news about is simply for consumer consumption.
I understand that shipping gas overseas is a painstaking ordeal and far more difficult and costly then understood by most. perhaps what would be accomplished is not so much a lesser price to Europe and Japan...but less dependence on Russia worth the risk of shipping.
Regardless Putin will not lay down his lust for Oil and resources to and from other nations...He knows “Pipelines” hard wire political relationships and link countries....which give him leverage we see playing out now.
As is known, and Putin himself stated....”Whoever controls production, distribution and pricing of oil controls power.”
I understand that shipping gas overseas is a painstaking ordeal and far more difficult and costly then understood by most. perhaps what would be accomplished is not so much a lesser price to Europe and Japan...but less dependence on Russia worth the risk of shipping.
Regardless Putin will not lay down his lust for Oil and resources to and from other nations...He knows “Pipelines” hard wire political relationships and link countries....which give him leverage we see playing out now.
As is known, and Putin himself stated....”Whoever controls production, distribution and pricing of oil controls power.”
And raise the cost of home heating and electricity for Americans.
The solution or at least partial solution is to return Syria to French Hegemony intirm government and allow the saudi and other gulf states pipelines to cross the Med to Greece.
Voila..... dependence on Russia gone
That’s only of you live in a state that was stupid enough to expose its residents to deregulation. Utilities here in WV are still regulated. The issue is that many drillers are no longer drilling in areas with mostly dry gas. The price of natural gas is so low that the owners can only make money on the liquids they get along with the gas.
Bumping up the price of methane up a bit will unleash more drilling resulting in ... lower prices again.
While the media kinda sticks to their agenda stories...you need to gaze over toward Norway. They have a pretty good production capability of oil and natural gas. Some business reports indicate that they are more than capable of expanding the natural gas production quickly....and taking up the slack. I’m guessing that Merkel knows this. Now...could they ramp up double what they are doing today...by October? That....I’m not sure of...and the Norwegians are probably not that sure. But, if I were a Russian billionaire who has enjoyed the rich life and millions that roll in monthly...I really wouldn’t want to see my production level go to zero. I’d be fairly upset.
“If we end up supplying the Euros with gas, they better be forced to pay a very pretty penny for it.”
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Don’t hold your breath until that happens, The gov. will just give the stuff to them.
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