Russia’s Support of Environmentalists is Paying Off

Drew Johnson of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance makes an interesting observation in a commentary published in The Wall Street Journal. During late January, a Russian tanker from Siberia carrying natural gas arrived in Boston Harbor in which Johnson points out:

The activist group is organizing online campaigns to oppose every new coal, oil, and natural-gas project. Greenpeace claims it is time to leave fossil fuels “where they belong: in the ground.” The Sierra Club is pushing the U.S. to abandon all fossil fuels, claiming the country is ready for 100% renewable energy.

The nationwide focus he takes, fortunately, isn’t panning out. The federal government is cracking down on eco-terrorist groups.

However, a lot of coal-fired power plants in the northeastern US are closing or have closed down in order to make way for renewable power sources that won’t be able to provide enough energy for northeastern US residents.

As a result, demand for natural gas that people use to heat their homes has spiked along with a renewed interest in coal and natural gas to provide for people’s overall energy needs.

Despite this, the end result of closing coal-fired power plants will be rolling blackouts if and until the plants are back online. In the meantime, natutal gas will be the source to power energy plants though even New York’s governor has taken a hardline against it and there isn’t enough electricity demand to support the capcity.

None the less, the Russian investment of paying environmentalists to protest and possibly even sabotage US fossil fuel production seems to be paying off. As Johnson points out: Blocking pipelines and other energy infrastructure projects raises costs on American families while forcing them to rely on Vladimir Putin to heat their homes.