Strategic mistake

After a morning of online meetings, I went over to Draken and Nordic Wellness for my first 10k of indoor rowing this month. Knowing that once I have done the remaining 40k I get to go to California is highly motivating – assuming that there will be any jet fuel left for the Lufthansa 747 in three weeks’ time.

Today, the International Energy Agency (IEA) agreed to release 400 million barrels of emergency crude, a third of the group’s total government stockpiles, to mitigate the supply shortage caused by the Iran war. There is a certain irony in the fact that, the day before, Ursula von der Leyen admitted that the decision to phase out nuclear energy was a “strategic mistake” and that being “completely dependent on expensive and volatile imports” of fossil fuels has created a particular vulnerability for Europe.

Were it not for the serious consequences for both human health and the global climate, one would be tempted to say, “told you so”. And while certainly welcome, acknowledging past mistakes is only the first step towards reversing course and realizing that it is precisely the EU-championed investments in renewable energy that are creating this fossil reliance and stubborn emissions (for those keeping score, German electricity emissions remain 15-20 times those of Sweden today as well).