The leaders creating the Energy Policy of the UK and the US may be having a mid-life crisis. Two traits of a mid-life crisis are: do not know what you want and life doesn’t make sense. Lets talk about President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. They both reside over their country’s energy policies.
President Biden’s first item on his agenda when he first came into office was to ban the sale of new Federal land drilling leases to energy companies. This is where the mid-life crisis appears. Due to his agenda, prices began to increase and he in turn blamed the oil companies of being “unAmerican”.
Now he and his administration want to ban natural gas cookers and substitute electricity. Another mid-life crisis moment. The president could be labeled unAsian since many of the Asian population cooks with natural gas cookers at home and in their restaurants. More states are hopping on this out of control locomotive. California has already banned the installation of gas stoves in new construction. New York City is following in the next train car starting in 2024. Denver is in the third car as they have already started restrictions. Personally, I think nothing cooks better than a natural gas cooker. Electricity can be more toxic to the environment than natural gas. In the US 22% of electricity is created by burning coal and 38% is generated by burning natural gas. Burning coal is considered more toxic than burning natural gas. The idea of eliminating gas cookers is expensive and the alternative creates more airborne pollutants.
Prime Minister Sunak has a different agenda, but not any less strange. The UK has a fracking ban because it is harmful to the environment; however, he formed an agreement with Biden to import large quantities of natural gas from the US. Much of the natural gas in the US is extracted using fracking technology. I guess harming the US environment does not matter. Mid-life crisis moment.
The next item on the agenda of the UK is worse than fracking. Sunak and the UK government have given permission for the first coal mine to be built in decades. Coal is more harmful than natural gas. Mid-life crisis strikes again.
Sunak’s final item, now, is to save the oil and gas industry in Scotland, but to continue to ban fracking in the UK. His environmental concerns are for the UK only. Another moment?
In the case of President Biden and Prime Minister Sunak, I think they are definitely exhibiting signs of a mid-life crisis or early signs of senility.