Inevitably, such policies fall flat when the abstract becomes reality and Germany’s backup plan – so heavily tied to the aggressor, Russia – has lost its reliability.
Ukraine’s national energy company warned its citizens on October 20 that they should “charge everything” because of expected power cuts due to Russian missile strikes. Stymied in his attempts to conquer Ukraine militarily, Russian President Vladimir Putin has begun an artillery assault on Ukrainian infrastructure. According to Ukraine’s energy ministry, the Russian attacks, which violate international law, have damaged as much as 40% of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Citizens have been advised that phones, power banks, torches, and batteries all should be charged, as Ukraine likely will be dealing with power outages of up to four hours daily across the country.
Ukraine is not the only country in Europe preparing for power blackouts this winter. The National Grid in Great Britain warned that blackouts could be ordered between 4:00 pm and 7:00 pm on “really, really cold” weekdays this winter if gas imports from Europe are reduced.
Recent reports claim that the British Broadcasting Company has prepared secret scripts of how it will reassure the nation should Great Britain face a “major loss of power.” Meanwhile, German politician Wolfgang Schauble told his countrymen to prepare to wear two sweaters and to stop whining about the power situation as there might be cuts in Germany as well this winter. And even here in the United States, ISO New England Inc., the operator of the northeastern power grid, has warned about possible energy blackouts this winter.
It is lost on no one that “really, really cold” days are the exact days when people need power the most. Nor can it be disputed that the possibility of energy blackouts and freezing children anywhere that does not agree with Russia’s war mongering is one of the strategic goals of Vladimir Putin as he tries to find some way to salvage his Ukrainian misadventure after conventional warfare has not worked as initially planned. In a very real sense, then, it can be argued that the West’s present energy vulnerability is a contributing factor behind the continued war, death, and destruction in Ukraine.
