NATO Renewable Energy To Penetrate Into Russian Petro-State
Renewable energy companies from three EU member nations, Finland, Germany and the Netherlands have just announced they will finance and build a total of 735 megawatts of wind power in Russia, the most dangerous petro-state on NATO’s border.
Finland, which shares a long land border with Russia, has repeatedly been the target of Russian jets into its airspace, and all three have been victims of Putin-backed Kremlin psy-ops campaigns boosting anti-democratic candidates in an attempt to split and weaken the European Union.
Russia is the Ultimate “Red State” — With its Extraction Economy
The biggest, emptiest and most fossil-dependent “red state” on the planet, Russia had a mere 15 megawatts (MW) of wind power as of the end of 2015, whereas Europe is a clean energy leader. Europe has a clear interest in reducing the friction at the Baltic border between a petrostate and Europe, marked by the incompatibility of the energy markets of Europe and Russia.
Russia occupies much of the old land mass of the long-gone actual Red state, the USSR, back when it was under Communist rule. Russia is no longer a Communist nation.
Under the multi-term rule of Putin, now it is a kleptocracy run by and for a few mob-connected billionaires. As Senator McCain put it, now Russia is really just “a gas station run by a mafia that is masquerading as a country.”
Here’s Why We Need Renewables to Penetrate Petro-states:
Unlike fossil fuels which are finite, renewable energy is infinite. A fossil-energy-based economy leads to a very different foreign policy. It precludes peace.
Here’s why. If any energy source is finite, it leads to zero-sum thinking. Once I dig up and burn energy it is gone from the planet’s supply of energy for good. You can’t burn it again after me. It’s me or you. For me to win, you must lose. Zero-sum. Short term gain/long term loss. The future can’t matter. So we must deny climate risks and grab it for ourselves while we can.
By contrast, if an energy source is renewable, that allows for win-win scenarios. I don’t use up the global supply of sun or wind when I use sun or wind energy. The same solar and wind resiources will be available again and again through the centuries to our descendants. We can afford to care about the future. We can admit we want good things for future generations again. We don’t need to grab our energy from our neighbors before it’s gone. This means we can envision a truly long term civilization again.
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7ySuch logic is tenuous, especially given the aggression of NATO states, led by the United States, in most of the major oil producing countries of the world, particularly the Middle East and North Africa. In that context, accusing Russia alone of being a "red" state is simplistic and stupid. Finland and Germany in any case are asking global leaders when it comes to renewable energy. They would do well to focus their investment in developing countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia instead