A president who returned to office intent on turning the country away from renewable energy now finds that commitment tested by a war that has choked a narrow sea passage through which much of the world's oil must flow. Crude has climbed above $100 a barrel and gasoline is heading toward $4 a gallon, and critics argue that a nation leaning so heavily on oil and gas has taken on the very exposure that such shocks exploit. The question hanging over the moment is less about one war than about what kind of energy future a country chooses to build before the next disruption arrives.
Iran war underscores risks of Trump's relentless focus on oil
A war has choked a key route for oil, and prices at the pump are rising
Mark
Why does this story land as more than a price story?
Mimi
Because it ties a war abroad to a policy choice at home. Trump bet heavily on oil, and now oil is above $100 a barrel with gasoline heading toward $4.
Mark
And the Strait of Hormuz is central?
Mimi
Yes. Iran has effectively blocked it, and it's a key access point for global oil.
Luke
Careful with "effectively." That's the reporting's wording, not a precise account of how much oil is moving or not moving.
Mark
What about the claim that clean energy would have protected the U.S.?
Mimi
Experts say blocking wind and solar left the country more vulnerable to supply shocks.
Luke
That's experts' judgment. The piece as I can read it doesn't give figures showing how much difference renewables would have made.
Mark
The strategic reserve release is meant to help?
Mimi
It is, but prices are still expected to keep rising.
Luke
And the source text is garbled in places, so quotes from Gleick and Slocum are only partly recoverable. I'd treat the details as incomplete.
O Pulso
- Crude oil has climbed above $100 a barrel and gasoline is surging toward $4 a gallon, squeezing drivers at every pump.
- Iran has effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for global oil, and the closure is driving prices upward.
- The administration has moved to release millions of barrels from the strategic reserve, a rapid attempt to ease pressure on fuel costs.
- Critics say the pivot away from wind and solar left the country exposed, and prices are expected to keep climbing unless the strait reopens.
A president who returned to office intent on turning the country away from renewable energy now finds that commitment tested by a war that has choked a narrow sea passage through which much of the world's oil must flow. Crude has climbed above $100 a barrel and gasoline is heading toward $4 a gallon, and critics argue that a nation leaning so heavily on oil and gas has taken on the very exposure that such shocks exploit. The question hanging over the moment is less about one war than about what kind of energy future a country chooses to build before the next disruption arrives.
When Donald Trump returned to office last year, he set out to pull the country away from renewable energy. He dismantled much of the climate-friendly policy left by his Democratic predecessor and placed oil and other fossil fuels at the center of what he calls American energy dominance. Now the war in Iran is putting that approach to the test.
Crude oil has climbed above $100 a barrel, and gasoline is surging toward $4 a gallon. Iran has effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow passage through which much of the world's oil moves, and its closure has pushed prices sharply upward.
Experts argue that the push to block wind and solar power has left the United States more vulnerable to exactly this kind of supply shock. A country that depends more heavily on oil and gas, they say, absorbs more of the risk when that supply is cut off.
The administration has responded by releasing millions of barrels from the strategic reserve, meant to ease pressure at the pump. Even so, prices are likely to keep rising. Consumers are bearing the cost, and critics say the sequence of events exposes the policy's weakness.
What comes next depends on two things: whether the reserve release slows the climb in crude and gasoline prices, and whether the Strait of Hormuz reopens. Those answers will determine how long households feel the strain.
When President Donald Trump returned to office last year, he set out to pull the country away from renewable energy. He dismantled much of the climate-friendly policy left by his Democratic predecessor and made oil and other fossil fuels the centerpiece of what he calls American energy dominance. The war in Iran is now testing that approach.
Crude oil prices have climbed above $100 a barrel, and gasoline prices are surging toward $4 a gallon. The Strait of Hormuz, a key access point to the global oil market, is effectively blocked by Iran. That chokepoint matters because so much of the world's oil supply moves through it, and its closure has sent prices upward.
Experts say Trump's push to block clean energy, wind and solar power in particular, has left the United States more exposed to the kind of supply shock the war has produced. In their telling, a country that leans harder on oil and gas takes on more of the risk when that supply is disrupted, rather than less.
The administration has responded by moving to release millions of barrels of oil from the nation's strategic reserve. The step is meant to ease pressure at the pump. Even so, the reporting indicates that oil prices are likely to keep rising.
The source text available for this story is badly garbled in its later passages, so only fragments of the commentary can be recovered with confidence. Those fragments point to several voices. Gleick, of the Pacific Institute, is described as a scientist speaking about short-term sustainability and the effect of the war on oil prices. A representative of Public Citizen, identified as Tyson Slocum, an energy program director, is quoted as saying the administration has put the country at risk by relying on fossil fuels. Slocum is also associated with a remark about prices spiking and with a criticism that Trump and campaign promises on prices have not held, though the exact wording cannot be reliably reconstructed.
The fragments also touch on consumers, who are described as bearing the cost of rising energy prices, and on data centers, whose electricity demand is mentioned in connection with higher power bills. These threads are only partly legible, and they should be read as pointers rather than established findings.
What can be said plainly is the shape of the argument. Trump staked his energy policy on fossil fuels, a war has choked off a major route for oil, and prices at the pump are rising despite the reserve release. Critics see that sequence as evidence of the policy's vulnerability.
What to watch next is whether the reserve release slows the climb in crude and gasoline prices, and whether the Strait of Hormuz reopens. Both will determine how long households feel the strain.
Citações Notáveis
Experts say Trump's strategy of blocking clean energy such as wind and solar has made the U.S. more vulnerable to supply shocks from the war.— Experts cited by the Associated Press
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Leia o original em The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ↗
Politics & Governance