One big reason Arab petrostates and Russia are interfering with US election on behalf of Trump and Republicans.
The bloodthirsty leader of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia loves his dictatorial soul-mate Donald Trump and is today setting the stage to intervene in November’s election in a big way, much like he did with a smaller test run during the fall of 2022 when he drove US gas prices up above $5, forcing President Biden to release oil from the US strategic petroleum reserve.
Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, said Sunday that it would extend cuts in oil production through June, noting that it was acting “in coordination with some” other states. Saudi allies including Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates said Sunday that they would also continue their reductions.
That “other state” would be their OPEC+ partner Russia, which also announced last weekend a simultaneous production cut of 471,000 barrels a day. Putin wants Trump back in the White House, too.
This time, though, because Trump refused to block the sale of America’s largest gasoline refinery to Saudi Arabia in 2017 (completed in 2019 with Trump’s blessing), no matter how much oil Biden releases from the reserves will be irrelevant: if the Saudis shut down their Port Arthur, Texas refinery this October “for maintenance,” US gasoline prices will explode.It’s the largest refinery in America, as Foreign Policy magazine noted in May 2017:
“Port Arthur, referred to as the ‘crown jewel’ of U.S. refinery infrastructure, can process 600,000 barrels of oil a day.”
That alone is enough to radically swing gasoline prices in the US.So, get ready: it’s coming this fall. And unless the administration acts quickly, there will be nothing they can do about it. Gas at $6 a gallon could easily throw the election to Trump, as Biden will take the blame (just like in November 2022) and Fox “News” and rightwing hate media will hang gas prices around his neck like a flaming tire.
MBS and his sovereign wealth fund have funneled literally billions of dollars into the Trump family, between Jared’s investment company and Trump’s golf courses and the LIV Tour, in addition to giving Trump himself additional hundreds of millions over the years renting and purchasing Trump properties.
During Trump’s presidency, MBS funneled additional millions directly into the Trump family’s pockets via Trump’s DC hotel and NYC properties in clear violation of the Emoluments Clause of the US Constitution.
In exchange, Trump broke with the US tradition of new presidents visiting democratic allies and made Saudi Arabia his first overseas destination, blowing away congressional concern about MBS having ordered the brutal murder and dismemberment of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi and elevating the international status of that country beyond anything ever done by any US president.
Trump followed that up by organizing a 2019 sale of $8.1 billion in US weaponry in clear violation of US law (such sales require congressional approval). When the Senate voted to block the sale, Trump killed their effort. As Frontline noted in a July 2019 report:
“Both chambers have registered their disapproval of the emergency declaration — the Senate voted to block the sale in June. President Trump, however, has pledged to shoot down the measure when it arrives at his desk.”
When Saudi Arabia and Russia tried to screw Biden and the Democrats by cutting oil production — in October leading up to the midterm 2022 elections — President Biden was furious. Russell Baker wrote about it for The New York Times on October 11, 2022:
“President Biden vowed on Tuesday to impose ‘consequences’ on Saudi Arabia for teaming up with Russia to cut oil production, signaling a rupture in the relationship between two longtime allies and a reversal of his own effort to cultivate the energy-rich kingdom.
“Amid deep anger over last week’s decision by the Saudi-led OPEC Plus, Mr. Biden’s staff announced that he would re-evaluate the entire relationship with Saudi Arabia and expressed openness to retaliatory measures offered by congressional Democrats such as curbing arms sales or permitting legal action against the cartel.
“‘There’s going to be some consequences for what they’ve done with Russia,’ Mr. Biden told CNN’s Jake Tapper in an interview broadcast on Tuesday night.”
In the FT video, I notice that the tourism option was depicted by a commercial airliner, highlighting the problem with tourism in general.
The biggest obstacle to wider electric vehicle adoption is electric vehicle manufactures turning cars into a throw away item. A minor defect in the battery means you need to change the battery for a new one, which inevitably costs more than the car is worth. Batteries should be repairable, refurbishable and reusable.
Until now I haven’t heard of anyone using battery age or potential defect as a reason not to get an EV. It’s typically an issue of price or charging convenience. The warranty on an EV battery pack is typically 10 years or 120,000 miles (or replacement in case of defect).
https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/advice/ev-battery-replacement-cost
Bear in mind that even after a battery pack drops capacity below what a driver can use (my first Leaf eventually only got about 85 miles on a charge, still more than enough for me), the pack itself is still very useful for home or grid storage (“reuse”) and would eventually be recycled, like a catalytic converter is on ICE cars.
I’m old enough to have experience with the “planned obsolescence” strategy of American car manufacturers. It wasn’t until Japan started scaring the pants off of them (1980s) that American cars started making cars long-lasting enough to warrant a 6-digit odometer.
The most effective—& satisfying—retaliation against Saudi Arabia, Russia, Venezuela, UAE, Azerbaijan, & all the rest, would be to vastly speed up permitting, building & connecting renewable energy; getting efficient; & living wiser lives. It’s also the most practical move, given that killing-10-million-people-every-year thing, & that global warming thing. But Biden has little interest in revenge against the countries the US has agreed to for hosting COPs so they could hijack the agenda, use the position for side deals & keep the finger pointers out, against the fossil fuel industry protected by all-of-the-above, or the ICEV-making swing states. Must be a dilemma for him & the rest of the duopoly Democrats.