Trump administration official Dan Brouillette made the case at a Raleigh forum on Friday that America is on the verge of energy independence — and that has a direct relationship to America’s foreign policy. Dan Way reports for Carolina Journal:
“Today we stand on the cusp of energy independence,” Brouillette said. He called America’s energy revolution “the greatest boon to foreign policy since the collapse of the Berlin Wall, since the fall of the Iron Curtain, and since the demise of the Soviet Union.”
Presidents no longer have to depend on the world’s volatile regions for energy, the U.S. economy is no longer prone to skyrocketing energy inflation, and foreign dictators and oil cabals no longer can hold U.S. foreign policy hostage with threats of boycotts.
“By exporting our energy we can liberate our friends and allies from dependence on unfriendly nations that use their energy supply as a political weapon,” Brouillette said. That would strengthen the hand of allies such as Ukraine, which is vulnerable to Russia for much of its energy imports.
Dan reports that Brouillette cautioned about the consequences of environmentalist moves to thwart this progress.
“In their quest for a zero-emissions world they would instruct developing nations to starve themselves from these fuels, even if it means dooming these countries to perpetual poverty and misery,” Brouillette said. One billion people in the world don’t have electricity.
Dan’s piece also carries interesting comments from Sens. Richard Burr and Thom Tillis as well.
