The Climate Change Show: #2 Rocketing Prices and Biden

Hi there, and today we’re back with another episode of the Climate Change Show. We’ll be talking about how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has affected oil prices and has made things weird.

If you’ve been keeping up with the news, you would know about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has been going on for several weeks. Russian troops have been closing in on Ukrainian cities, and air raid sirens get constantly heard. And here’s the thing: No one wants World War III, so other countries are sitting back on the sidelines, not directly intervening in the war. However, these countries are slapping sanctions on Russia, targeting the Russian economy. These countries are also trying to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin by targeting his friends, known as the oligarchs, particularly by seizing and freezing assets of these billionaires overseas, making these oligarchs uncomfortable. Hopefully, the oligarchs would then talk out against Putin to get him to back down, though that is only in the best-case scenario.

Part of the sanctions issued by United States President Joe Biden includes banning Russian imports of oil and natural gas. Though other countries in Europe, some of which depend substantially on Russian oil, have yet to cut imports, they have also announced their sanctions. However, the moves from these countries have already made international oil prices spiking dramatically. Why is that so?

That has to do with a basic economic principle, supply & demand. In our case, the supplier is Russia, while consumers from multiple countries make up demand. Since Russia ranks third in global oil production and second in natural gas, cutting its supply would mean a shortage for many sellers who buy in from Russia for trading abroad. These traders would need to raise prices to compensate for the lack of stock. But everyone still needs to drive their cars, and then there’s the outrage from the public.

But President Biden is trying to fix that, encouraging other countries such as the United Arab Emirates to pump more oil and gas to keep up for the supply. That’s not too weird by itself. However, when considering Biden’s long-term goal is to reduce the United States’ overall emissions, it’s unusual for the same person to promote the opposite in the short-term. But when you need to pay hundreds of dollars for a full tank to drive the car, some drivers may think that cost could be worth it.

Tigger doesn’t think that way. “With more carbon dioxide and harmful gases pumped into the atmosphere, the greenhouse effect would worsen, warming the climate and potentially resulting in the failing of natural ecosystems. More importantly, it could pose a threat to us in the future, and as many scientists have warned several times before, we need to take action now. No matter how much money one has, none can buy back time to solve one’s mistakes.”

Do you think that lower prices are worth sacrificing, at least temporarily, the climate? Or do you have another solution for solving this problem of all-time high prices? If you want to solve climate change, you could reduce your carbon footprint first. That could get done by driving less, riding public transport, recycling more, etc., and encouraging others to do the same. That’s all for today. Thank you, and tune in next time for more climate-related analysis.