If you look at commodity prices (which are priced in U.S. dollars) they are at all time highs. Excluding oil, I’m referring to commodity prices which are- across the board– at all time highs. For example, copper, food prices, essential goods, ect. The disparity of income in this country means that many Americans are going to have trouble affording food and basic tangible goods.
Ironically, one of the United States news organizations recently reported the possibility of wage price controls. It’s almost like we have come full circle here in this country! We left the gold standard that necessitated wage price controls.
Now, after nearly half a century, it’s suddenly dawned upon us to consider coming back to wage price controls. And I’m hoping it will also lead us back to a gold standard whereby gold will not only have to be revalued, but restructured. Part of the reason commodities are in such short supply is that America used the dollar to preemptively and unnecessarily buy as many commodities as possible.
Which leads me to another looming issue. Another reason we have this global oil crisis today is due to fracking. Now, fracking had a business structure around it… But the whole idea was not to start a business in which oil was advancing by two million barrels a year. That’s simply not sustainable!
My estimate is that the United States actually lost $500 billion dollars by fracking for oil. Why? Because of how fast we geared it up. The reason was the nearsightedness of America wanting to be energy independent. Incidentally, the only thing we achieved by fracking for oil was wasting a tremendous amount of money and unbelievable amounts of oil.
Can you imagine how much cheap oil we carelessly wasted by fracking?
This world desperately needs to transition to renewable energy, but you cannot become green overnight by banning fossil fuels. People don’t realize it’s the major energy source for the entire world! Do people really think we are running the entire planet off solar panels?
My goodness, before fossil fuels, there was coal- which is a fossil fuel. And before coal, there was wood! In fact, biofuel (wood) is a larger energy supplier globally than solar energy production!
Every viable energy source on this planet is essential and does not necessarily need to go away immediately… Especially if we are going to create a sustainable 21st century.
I’ve said it before and I will say it again. We are going to need to use ALL the fossil fuels on this planet to build a global economic infrastructure reliant on renewable energy sources.
NetZero 2050 is a positive initiative but there’s no evidence that if we don’t 100% decarbonize by the year 2100 that the entire planet will incinerate.
The UN’s estimate is that by 2100, if we did absolutely nothing to eliminate fossil fuel usage, the GDP growth (over those 80 years) would be approximately 1/10th less than it otherwise would have been. These statistics are extremely nominal- suggesting virtually little to no impact. Climate change is not an existential threat (right now) although it certainly could become one in the future.
“The real existential threat is commodity scarcities.”
Commodity mining grades across the planet are declining. We’re reaching a point of inflection. This means we have reached the point where it requires much more energy to mine these industrial minerals and metals than previous.
Does this world have the amount of oil we’re going to need to suffice?
Are we going to have enough fossil fuels to produce high grade copper critical for the production of electric vehicles?
Will we have enough raw materials to build more electrical transformers and expand the power grid?
Can we produce enough industrial metals to build out the infrastructure necessary for 80% of the developing world economy?
Will the planet have the commodities required to make solar and hydrogen primary, sustainable energy sources?
China is doing all the things we should be doing, and we have to wake up to that. And hopefully Europe can wake us up too. I’m an American… I don’t want to see this country decline but it’s happening.
When I think about Bell Labs, inventing the transistor and all the innovations America has achieved… Sometimes I wonder if the United States had not participated in the Vietnam War- if somehow we would have managed to stay on the gold standard. If that were the case, can you imagine the technologies the world would have today?
