How The 1970s Are Making A Comeback In The Worst Way Possible
If you think things are bad now between inflation and rising gas prices, it's about to get a whole lot worse.
This article is more than 2 years old
The world is on the brink of a serious global energy crisis. There is no other way to put it. A series of factors coinciding simultaneously is what ultimately is driving the world in such a devastating direction. CNN detailed, that should a crisis emerge it will likely be so extreme that it will make the oil crisis of the 1970s look like a walk in the park.
The oil crisis of the 1970s occurred after the Organization of Arab Petroleum put an embargo on shipping oil to the United States. This was problematic because the United States’ oil consumption was steadily rising as domestic production was steadily decreasing. Hence, at that time, the US was largely relying on foreign-produced fuel. So when certain overseas supplies were suddenly cut off it led to mass shortages and unfathomable price hikes. What occurred was not so dissimilar to what is happening at the pumps at present.
Ironically, in response to the energy crisis back then, there was a lot of bipartisan support to reduce the United States’ dependency on fossil fuels. There was also a focus put on boosting efforts to transition to clean sources of energy such as wind and solar. Unfortunately, most of those efforts were completely abandoned after the foreign oil embargo was lifted and adequate supply was once again accessible.
Sadly, decades later, none of that irony is lost. Years of neglecting the need to transition away from relying so heavily on fossil fuels have heavily contributed to severely impeding the environment. This has all been magnified to a greater degree because of Russia’s senseless besiegement of Ukraine. These factors are now colliding together to create a tidal wave that could birth not just an oil crisis, but also a gas and electric crisis. An energy crisis trifecta such as that will have the United States wishing it was the 1970s again. “Now we have an oil crisis, a gas crisis and an electricity crisis at the same time,” warned Fatih Birol, who works as the head of the International Energy Agency.
Joe McMonigle, who is the secretary general of the International Energy Forum, echoed Birol’s sentiments regarding an emerging energy crisis. “We have a serious problem around the world that I think policymakers are just waking up to. It’s kind of a perfect storm,” asserted McMonigle. So what kind of effects could come out of this impending superstorm? For starters, in the United States, it could certainly inhibit economic stability that is already being immensely strained by a choking period of inflation. On the environmental side of this, instances of extreme weather (including exorbitantly high temperatures) are expected to plague the nation throughout the summer months. This is predicted to lead to increased instances of nationwide blackouts.
Consider the difficulties of living in an era where it’s not only likely that you won’t have any lights, but you won’t have any gas to fill your tank either. It would be utterly debilitating. Unfortunately, the world only has years of inaction by those in power to blame for the impending onset of a fierce energy crisis. And even more unfortunate than that, is that it is likely too little too late to do much about it now.
