The left's self inflicted energy crisis

 Power Line:

To Europe, anyway. Years of horrible decisions by European leaders have come home to roost, as Europeans now worry about how to heat their homes this winter. Reliance on a geopolitical enemy for much of their energy turned out to be a mistake, as Russia has now shut off gas supplies. Who could have predicted it? Other than anyone with a modicum of common sense? Which Europe’s governing class has lacked for many years.

The continent’s leaders are panicking and preparing to ration energy:

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called for the implementation of “mandatory” energy rationing throughout the EU during peak hours in order to “flatten the curve” of demand amid the largely self-inflicted energy crisis befalling the bloc.

“Flatten the curve?” Where have we heard that before?

Energy rationing proposals have already come out of several member states, including France, Italy, and Germany. President Emmanuel Macron, who has warned that France is facing the “end of abundance“…

This is exactly the kind of talk we heard in the U.S. during the energy crisis circa 1979. In fact, all that was needed was to unleash our massive petroleum resources.

…urged citizens this week to limit their energy usage in order to prevent future government imposed rationing, mirroring similar statements from outgoing Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.

So European countries are voluntarily turning themselves into third-world nations. Will any politicians pay the price for this disaster? Don’t bet on it.

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Up to three years in prison for heating your home above 66.2 degrees Fahrenheit. Where I live, you would have to commit a murder to get three years. To be fair, though, they more likely will just fine you.

The saddest aspect of this story is that American leaders are following in the failed footsteps of the Europeans. We have the greatest petroleum reserves of any country on Earth, yet the Biden administration is ruthlessly suppressing oil and gas production in hopes of an impossible transition to unreliable, inefficient and ruinously expensive “green” energy.

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They did it to themselves in Europe by relying on Russia.  They laughed at Trump's warning, but they are not laughing now.  They should have developed their own resources as should the US, but leftist Bid Green fantasies have led them into the dry hole of wind and solar energy when fossil fuels are more efficient and reliable.  They are especially more reliable when you produce them in your own country.