Political prejudices increase Europe's energy risks

Russia often sees the West as something highly rational, which is not quite true. The religious way of thinking, which does not depend on a specific confession, is extremely active there and amounts to the priority of belief over facts. And beliefs vary, from belief in God to belief in "green energy" or some invisible force, writes a Russian analyst.

Konstantin Simonov, the head of Russia's National Energy Security Fund, writes in the popular daily Vedomosti about examples of religious mentality among European bureaucrats. In particular, he writes that Brussels firmly believes that its energy security can be attained only if it reduces its dependence on Russia.

There are many rational arguments against this belief, the analyst writes. Alternative fuels are considerably more expensive than hydrocarbons, the use of coal will inevitably affect the environment, nuclear power generation is impossible without uranium, which Europe lacks, and terrorists may use the growing number of nuclear power plants for their unseemly purposes.
Norway and Northern Africa cannot supply as much as half of the additional gas requirements, and the LNG market has become so crowded that Europe cannot push back the United States. Its alternative suppliers are Russia or Iran.

Simonov writes that the promotion of "green energy" has not cut the consumption of oil and gas but rather increased the demand for biofuels. More maize for biofuel is being sown, pushing back grain crops in arable areas and spurring the growth of food prices.

There are many facts to prove this, but Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, refuses to believe them. He has put the blame on China, which, according to him, has recently converted from a hungry to a sumptuous diet.
Most European energy companies describe the third block of energy reform initiatives as expropriation. But Brussels waves off their concerns, thus increasing energy risks for the EU.

A recent example is Ukraine, which is openly siphoning off gas from main pipelines. The deplorable state of its gas pipelines threatens Europe's, rather than Russia's, security. Yet Brussels is supporting Ukraine, which is allegedly promoting democracy, in the fight against Russia's "imperial complexes" and "energy weapons."

As a result, Ukraine has been admitted to the World Trade Organization and is considered a civilized state.
All countries, including Russia, which has its measure of mystics and advocates of Slavic Brotherhood, should pay more attention to rational arguments. Jesus kicked traders out of the temple, saying that it was a place to pray and worship God, not buy and sell things. The time has come now to drive political fundamentalists from the global exchanges, Simonov concludes.

Source: Vedomosti (What the Russian papers say, RIA Novosti) - March 18, 2008