A Warning from Europe (Again)
The eco-socialists want us to starve and live in poverty so they can "solve" climate change.
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Europeans are becoming poorer, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report. If you are curious, here are some vivid descriptions from the WSJ
“The French are eating less foie gras and drinking less red wine. Spaniards are stinting on olive oil. Finns are being urged to use saunas on windy days when energy is less expensive. Across Germany, meat and milk consumption has fallen to the lowest level in three decades and the once-booming market for organic food has tanked. Italy’s economic development minister, Adolfo Urso, convened a crisis meeting in May over prices for pasta, the country’s favorite staple, after they jumped by more than double the national inflation rate.”
The contrast between Europe and the United States measured in economic terms is stark.
Private consumption in the U.S. has increased by 9% but has declined by about 1% in the 20-nation eurozone since the end of 2019. The EU’s share of global consumption decreased from 25% in 2008 to 18%, while the U.S.’s share increased from 25% to 28% during the same period.
Real wages (adjusted after inflation) in the U.S. have increased by about 6% since 2019 but have declined by about 3% in Germany, 3.5% in Italy and Spain, and 6% in Greece over the same period.
The eurozone economy grew about 6% over the past 15 years, measured in dollars, compared with 82% for the U.S. If the current trend continues, by 2035, the gap between economic output per capita in the U.S. and the EU will be as large as that between Japan and Ecuador today.
Europe’s decades-long war on fossil fuels is the main culprit of the continent’s rising poverty and economic decline.
To chase an ill-defined climate goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050, many European countries, especially Germany, have shut down coal plants, nuclear power generators, and natural gas production and banned fracking. These policies have reduced affordable energy supplies and caused energy prices to rise sharply. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has only worsened the situation.
The war on fossil fuels has affected more than just energy prices and supplies. I wrote about the relationship between food and energy over a year ago and pointed out that energy is food. When energy is expensive and scarce, food prices increase because the cost of everything involving farming and food production, from fertilizer to pesticides, to planting, harvesting, and transportation, will also increase.
A war on fossil fuels is a war on food security. That’s what has happened in Europe—even the once-affluent middle class is struggling with high energy costs and food inflation. The WSJ reports, “In Brussels, one of Europe’s richest cities, teachers and nurses stood in line on a recent evening to collect half-price groceries from the back of a truck.”
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