US Attack on Venezuela: Backward into the Future
While Trump continues to focus on oil, Germany needs to restructure its energy system more quickly.
Donald Trump is going after the oil. Any other argument for his attack on Venezuela and the kidnapping of its president, Nicolas Maduro – arguments such as stopping drug smuggling, rebuilding the country, or establishing democracy – are pretexts or ancillary.
That quickly became clear, but one fact made it even clearer: the fact that the U.S. president didn't discuss his Maduro coup with Congress beforehand, speaking instead with American oil companies. This shows Trump is striving to secure the fossil future of the U.S. through the export of his "drill-baby-drill" doctrine. He is distancing himself even further from a sustainable energy policy and giving the rest of the world another strong reason to accelerate the transition to green energy,
The U.S. became the largest oil producer in the world in the last 10 years during Trump's first term in office. This did not change under Joe Biden's presidency, despite his climate protection agenda. Trump's drill-sergeant approach means that U.S. dependency on oil and gas will remain high, which will cause problems in the long term because of America's small reserves. In Trump's fossil fuel logic, it therefore makes sense to secure access to the Venezuelan oil reserves, which are the largest in the world. Venezuela was one of America’s largest oil suppliers until 2005. So, the motto is backward into the future.
The question remains as to whether the Venezuela adventure will turn out the way Trump and the oil multinationals, who invested millions of dollars in Trump's reelection, expect. The investment needed to restore Venezuela's oil industry is high.
At the same time, the price of oil on the world market is low, so refinancing is difficult. Nevertheless, Trump's coup is another example of the collateral damage caused by the extraction and burning of fossil fuels, beyond the climate issue. We can hope that Venezuela and the world will be spared a repeat of the oil wars that the U.S. waged in Iraq under the administrations of George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.
Until now, Europe has watched Trump's fossil fuel spectacle in absolute shock. The Venezuela attack needs to be the opportunity to speed up restructuring the energy system that was initiated for climate protection and energy security, rather than slowing it down, as Europe has a tendency to do. You can see this with the planned phase-out of combustion engines.
Regarding future technologies such as solar, wind, energy storage and e-mobility, the European Union should look to China instead of Trump's America for guidance. The U.S. is maneuvering itself into a technological isolation that will seriously damage its economy in the medium term.
Trump is trying to deny the renewable energy revolution. This is evident from the fact that China has installed more solar panels than Germany has in 30 years, and that Saudi Arabia is building solar power plants with storage facilities in a single project with the output of a nuclear power plant.
Germany, the world's third-largest economy, must ignite the energy transition booster — the keywords being energy-efficient building renovation, e-mobility, and circular economy. It must not repeat the mistakes made under Angela Merkel’s government. They deliberately destroyed Germany's solar industry, which used to be a global leader, leaving the door open for the Chinese to take over. It is Friedrich Merz and Co.'s job to learn from this. If they do, even Trump might respect us.
Donald Trump is going after the oil. Any other argument for his attack on Venezuela and the kidnapping of its president, Nicolas Maduro – arguments such as stopping drug smuggling, rebuilding the country, or establishing democracy – are pretexts or ancillary.
That quickly became clear, but one fact made it even clearer: the fact that the U.S. president didn't discuss his Maduro coup with Congress beforehand, speaking instead with American oil companies. This shows Trump is striving to secure the fossil future of the U.S. through the export of his "drill-baby-drill" doctrine. He is distancing himself even further from a sustainable energy policy and giving the rest of the world another strong reason to accelerate the transition to green energy,
The U.S. became the largest oil producer in the world in the last 10 years during Trump's first term in office. This did not change under Joe Biden's presidency, despite his climate protection agenda. Trump's drill-sergeant approach means that U.S. dependency on oil and gas will remain high, which will cause problems in the long term because of America's small reserves. In Trump's fossil fuel logic, it therefore makes sense to secure access to the Venezuelan oil reserves, which are the largest in the world. Venezuela was one of America’s largest oil suppliers until 2005. So, the motto is backward into the future.
The question remains as to whether the Venezuela adventure will turn out the way Trump and the oil multinationals, who invested millions of dollars in Trump's reelection, expect. The investment needed to restore Venezuela's oil industry is high.
At the same time, the price of oil on the world market is low, so refinancing is difficult. Nevertheless, Trump's coup is another example of the collateral damage caused by the extraction and burning of fossil fuels, beyond the climate issue. We can hope that Venezuela and the world will be spared a repeat of the oil wars that the U.S. waged in Iraq under the administrations of George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.
Until now, Europe has watched Trump's fossil fuel spectacle in absolute shock. The Venezuela attack needs to be the opportunity to speed up restructuring the energy system that was initiated for climate protection and energy security, rather than slowing it down, as Europe has a tendency to do. You can see this with the planned phase-out of combustion engines.
Regarding future technologies such as solar, wind, energy storage and e-mobility, the European Union should look to China instead of Trump's America for guidance. The U.S. is maneuvering itself into a technological isolation that will seriously damage its economy in the medium term.
Trump is trying to deny the renewable energy revolution. This is evident from the fact that China has installed more solar panels than Germany has in 30 years, and that Saudi Arabia is building solar power plants with storage facilities in a single project with the output of a nuclear power plant.
Germany, the world's third-largest economy, must ignite the energy transition booster — the keywords being energy-efficient building renovation, e-mobility, and circular economy. It must not repeat the mistakes made under Angela Merkel’s government. They deliberately destroyed Germany's solar industry, which used to be a global leader, leaving the door open for the Chinese to take over. It is Friedrich Merz and Co.'s job to learn from this. If they do, even Trump might respect us.
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