Stop Looking Russia’s Gift Horse in the Mouth – Declare War!

This is not rocket science.  The European’s cannot untangle from Russia because their economies are running on Russia’s energy.  So give the European’s an option.  Offer the European’s North America’s energy as a replacement for their Russian oil and natural gas.

Not timely enough – then make it timely.  America has done some amazing things when facing war.  We turned automobile factories into tank factories.  We turned civilian ship yards into navy ship builders.  And we did it fast.  Should we wait until we have to declare a real war with the Russians before we develop a sense of urgency?

I know we will never go to war with Russia – but Ukraine may.  Do we not care about the potential slaughter of the Ukrainian people?  Do we want to lose the 47 million people in the Ukraine (before the Crimean annexation) to Vladimir Putin’s complete control?  From a humanitarian stand point I say: No, we do not.  From an economic stand point I say no again.  Those 47 million hard working people are a market opportunity.  Why do you think the EU was courting them in the first place?  And, if Ukraine does fall, which European nation will become the next victim of Mr. Putin?

We can stop all of this now and prevent it from happening again for three generations.  Declare an energy war with Russia.  Create jobs by building the infrastructure to bring North American oil and gas to Europe ASAP.  Build the XL pipeline.  Build another pipeline from Canada’s oil fields to Canada’s eastern seaboard and ship the oil to Europe.  Build a pipeline from the North Dakota oil fields to Philadelphia.  (Philadelphia is my hometown and I’d like to see the jobs at my port.  But, I’d be okay with the pipeline going to any American port on the Atlantic or Gulf of Mexico.)  While we are at it, we should build a lot of oil tankers.  We should build natural gas terminals at our ports and liquid natural gas tankers.  We have a lot of gas and our production is increasing.  We can certainly sell some of it to Europe.

We can finance all of this as we financed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – as matters of national security as urgent as war.  Our chance of winning and maintaining the hearts and minds of the Ukrainians is much better than they ever were with the Iraqis and Afghans.  And, the economic return on investment is enormously better.

Europe also needs an economic jolt.  We should allow Europeans to participate in building the infrastructure needed to build this transatlantic energy trade.  In the long run, building the infrastructure will not be the long term job creator.  The North America energy will create jobs for American and Europe because North America will receive the money that is now flowing to Russia and we North Americans will in turn use this new source of wealth to buy more from Europe.  We should commit ourselves to do this through the formality of law.  Are you with us Canada? 

I know this equal opportunity wealth sharing proposal (codifying future European trade) will make my conservative friends uncomfortable, but let it go.  Now is not the time to base decisions on pure market principles.  Now is the time to build a world force of civilized nations that can stand up to the world’s would-be bullies like Russia.  (And who knows who next?  Are you thinking red?)  Can you imagine how much more simple it would be to manage the world without a world bully dangling an olive branch (or an anti-aircraft missile system) to developing countries?  Think of the People’s Republic of Donetsk as a developing country.  Other’s that come to mind are ISIS, Syria, and Iran.  (I am aware that Iran and Syria are considered developed countries but my definition, being a developed country requires that the country be a good world citizen.)

One other point; put those coal killing regulations on hold for a few years.  If we keep our coal burning we will have more natural gas to ship across the pond.  How do you coal miners in West Virginia like that?

Just do it!  The mere commitment of such an enormous undertaking will force ol’ Vladdy to let those Ukrainian separatist fend for themselves.  But even after Vladdy does fold, we must continue this path.  We need to cut off Russia’s cash flow.  Unless Russia finally leaves the 20^th century and becomes a good citizen among the world of nations, it should not be subsidized by civilized nations so that it can wreak havoc on world affairs.

I heard a pundit state Friday night on PBS’s Washington Week that Russia doesn’t care about losing the European energy market because they will just sell their energy to China.  That is hogwash.  China will not buy as much energy from Russia as Europe currently does for at least a decade.  And, if China is Russia’s only customer, it will demand the energy at rock bottom prices.  Russia doesn’t even have the money to build a pipeline to China.  The Russians and Chinese signed an energy trade agreement several weeks ago that requires the Chinese to finance the construction of the pipeline. By the way, the pipeline is expected to take over five years to build.

The transatlantic energy pact referred to here will change the world.  It will create an economic/military power so large that it will cast a global shadow.  We and our allies will be able to shape the form of that shadow without the requirement of a United Nations Security Council vote.

We can allow war to be fought with the traditional violent methods of the past or we can fight it with our new strengths: our energy and our reaffirmed transatlantic alliances.  We can allow the bullying to continue or we can create a force that annihilates the bully and assures peace in our lifetime, and in our children’s and grandchildren's lives.  This Mr. Obama would be one hell of a legacy!