The Myth of Energy Independence and the Agents of Mammon

Energy Independence. The words are inescapable if you turn the news on. It has become a battle-cry for the Right in 2022. Representing the interests of the petroleum industry they have used the present crisis as a means to bolster the interests of that economic sector and yet at a most basic level it's misleading.

As mentioned numerous times, the concept was not one that earlier generations of American conservatives cared about all that much. The US needed justification for its international projects and the petroleum markets proved convenient and gave the US leverage. This was especially true in light of the glut that occurred in the 1980's, and the US-Saudi alliance – which was utilised by the US propaganda machine in justifying the Gulf War and the post-Cold War order the US sought to create in its wake.

But after the disastrous wars of the 9/11 era, the nativist and libertarian elements within the American Right have pushed for energy independence. They argue that if the US produces its own energy then it will be able to avoid international entanglements and the domestic markets will be tamed. Both claims are utterly false.

First, the US Establishment doesn't seek isolation. That doctrine was forever abandoned in the 1930's and is viewed as detrimental to American interests. Even those who eschew the imperialist label argue for such by means of interests, interventions, responsibility, leadership, and the like – all euphemisms for empire. Wall Street wants markets open and it needs resources. The US is invested in the pursuit of these goals which on a competitive level means excluding rival powers from pursuing the same. Whether it was empire-creep or deliberate design, the US embraced and sought a global empire in the aftermath of World War II – and it certainly sought the wars of 9/11. The cost of dismantling the empire would probably spell the ruin and collapse of the United States and so there are no serious political actors that think in these terms.

And they would argue (rightly or wrongly) that leaving the world to anti-American interests will in the end come home. If the US wants to trade and do business internationally it will have to interact with these markets, currencies, and the forces that shape them. Leaving it to others to set the rules and dominate the field isn't just bad geopolitics, it's bad business.

This is not to say that a Christian need agree with these positions and perhaps should find them distasteful. Hopefully Christians will reflect on the nature of the world system and consequently re-think their life goals, their place in this system, and their values concerning goods, money, and the like.

As to the markets, the same equation comes into play with regard to so-called energy independence. The goal of energy independence was that the US would be a net exporter. The petroleum industry wants to drill and ship oil, natural gas, and other related commodities overseas. It's good for business and in collaboration with the US government these business tools can be used in the structuring of international arrangements.

The second the US markets interact with the international markets – they are subject to the same forces that drive prices up and down. Indeed at present there's no oil crisis. The rise in prices is simply due to speculation – fears of future shortage, and a run on stocks based on the rising prices. People want to get on the gravy train and a buying frenzy ensues. These actions alone drive the price up and the same thing would happen even if the US produced all its own oil. Wall Street is not going to isolate the US market and keep the price artificially low for the American consumer. Anyone who thinks otherwise is delusional.

Even if Biden gave an order to start drilling tomorrow, it would take months before anything happened or the market felt the impact of more available oil. There are numerous complicating factors as well surrounding logistics, infrastructure, and labour.

The White House could intervene and fix prices (as Nixon tried to do) but to say Wall Street resents this is to understate the reality. It means a loss in profits and investors will quickly jump ship and turn the political machine against any office holder, party, or candidate who even toys with such notions. Restricting the US oil market to domestically drilled oil will do little or even nothing to affect the price and many of those making this argument know it all too well. So then why make the appeal? Because oil production and export will mean more profits and from an industry standpoint it will prolong the present fossil fuels-based infrastructure.

The Keystone Pipeline would have meant a lot of jobs for the short term. But once it was built those jobs would evaporate. The Canadian Tar Sands oil would be shipped down to the Gulf Coast and refined. And from there the plan was to ship it abroad. The oil wasn't even going to benefit the US market apart from transfer and refining fees.

It's all a big game and the talking points are a swindle and there are plenty of scoundrels out there who are happy to lie and distort the truth in order to please their backers and make a buck. It's that simple.

If the public wants cheap gas, there is a way. Nationalise the oil industry. Take out the profit motive. Cut Wall Street out. Then the state can set the prices and effectively subsidize the fuel. This is what is done in many petroleum rich countries that have cheap gas. Any US president who suggested this would probably end up dead in short order or forced to resign as the result of some scandal. It would be a revolutionary step that would generate a political crisis.

Or in other cases resource rich but economically poor nations (like in Central Asia) let foreign companies come in to exploit the oil, the oligarchs get rich, and the country's limited domestic needs are subsidized as a means to keep the population happy. The energy companies make their money – largely built on the fact that the economy in which they're working is a poor one with relatively low demand and low costs. They're able to utilise cheap labour and the like. They make a lot of money and yet that model would never work in a Western labour and economic context.

It's not about independence. It's about profits. But of course if the US were to do this (which would never happen) cheap gas would mean ostentatious consumption. The excess that is part of the American character is self-destructive. In other countries people are still poor and though the gas is cheap they are not given to extravagance and still struggle in many cases to make ends meet. They simply want cars that run. In America the auto industry is about 'branding', self-identity, and ego-trumpeting. As such, cheap gas in the United States as we saw in the 1990's was something of a cultural disaster and it produced and fed decadence.

There are no easy answers to America's dilemmas and its deep moral cancers. Europe has dealt with expensive petrol for decades and the prices remain far higher than the United States. But of course Europe has a public transport system and a different kind of social culture than the United States. And while very affluent, it's different and the US will need to undergo a social revolution to really change on these points – something akin to The Great Depression but with a different outcome. And yet, it's unlikely the US as a cohesive political entity would survive such an event.

So in the meantime as Christians we can tighten the belt, pay the gas prices and yet understand the forces at work and not get caught up in the fury and the anger. In many cases the people sitting next to you in the pew are profiting off your misery or if you're especially blind you yourself might be invested. In which case one hopes that one would rectify that situation. In more ways than one it's a dirty industry and probably not one that Christians should seek to profit from. Those who pretend the industry is filled with wonderful Christians are delusional and expose their own spiritual poverty and unfamiliarity with New Testament Christianity.

It's Caesar's coin. If we have less or more it shouldn't matter. If you're really feeling the proverbial pinch then you probably ought to change how you live and reassess your values. Don't bind yourself to the world to such an extent that you're subjugated to it and dominated by its ebbs and flows. Yes, it hurts when the electric and gas bill go up and it costs more at the pump and the grocery store. I certainly feel it but I'm not going to translate that into misplaced anger and open myself up to the coterie of liars and manipulators who come as angels of light but are instead the agents of mammon darkness and its idolatries.