The Hoax that’s Eating America

 

The Hoax that’s Eating America

The Utter Failure of “Drill baby, Drill”

We’re fighting an economy destroying WAR in Iran, which clearly does not have the nuclear capacity to decimate American cities if you have reviewed our own national intelligence reports, over old-world OIL?! Seriously?! As Donald Trump’s arrogant inner luddite continues to put a major drag on America’s competitive advantage, China seems an ingrate for not sending Mr Trump a formal letter of expression, a profound debt of gratitude for all the wonderful things he is doing for the Peoples’ Republic. I am sure that aside from tearing apart any federal support for alternative energy, Trump is also suggesting that withdrawing from NATO is on the horizon. I can hear Xi Jinping’s heart beating fast all the way to my home. Trump’s WAR is just excellent gravy!

China didn’t have to do much to respond to Trump’s WAR, which resulted in a major global disaster as Iran shut down the Strait of Hormuz to a trickle in response (kicking oil and gas prices to record highs everywhere). They have Russian oil if they need it and have shifted their economy to emphasize alternative energy. According to the February 5th Carbon Brief, “Solar power, electric vehicles (EVs) and other clean-energy technologies drove more than a third of the growth in China’s economy in 2025 – and more than 90% of the rise in investment… Clean-energy sectors contributed a record 15.4tn yuan ($2.1tn) in 2025, some 11.4% of China’s gross domestic product (GDP) – comparable to the economies of Brazil or Canada.”

The United States’ automotive sector is not a significant global player in alternative power; China remains the world’s electric car manufacturing center, accounting for more than 70% of global production in 2024, even higher last year. China would not have had the outstanding annualized growth it has achieved without alternative energy sources. For less affluent nations, the ability to dump oil for green energy is a lifesaver. And China’s EV and hybrid vehicles, very competitively priced from basic models to luxury vehicles, are rapidly embracing its new range-busting batteries big time. Instead, we’re destroying our economy to fight a losing oil WAR?

“The CEO of JPMorgan Chase has warned that escalating ‘geopolitical tensions’ could pose significant challenges to businesses and consumers in the U.S…. In his annual letter to shareholders, published Monday [4/6], Jamie Dimon said that the American economy ‘continues to be resilient,’ but that these mounting threats could spill over into trade and energy markets while impacting the country’s wider outlook.” Newsweek, April 6th. Nice understatement, Jamie, with plenty of room for an “I told you so” moment looming.

Xi must be chuckling as a profoundly hated screaming and swearing little orange dictator is now swimming in shark-infested waters, totally alone (except for the SOB who led Trump into this quagmire, Bibi Netanyahu), and facing staggering and escalating costs based on a WAR which Trump alone declared. Every announcement of wild success in the Iran theater touting “obliteration” success is met with the harsh reality that Iran can still shoot down US fighters and bombers and retains unyielding control over the Strait. Trump has been relegated to a making a vituperative threat to unleash hellfire on major civilian targets in Iran, from local bridges to their power grid, all in stark violation of international law, under the Geneva Conventions and other international law. And there is no one to pardon him from these international crimes.

It just may be a come-to-Jesus moment for Republicans, facing midterms with dwindling prospects, who stand in support of massive new military budget requests ($1.5 T defense budget with an immediate $200 B for the WAR) while cutting Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP and even Social Security, already reeling from cuts… all to accommodate increasingly unpopular tax reductions that benefit the mega-rich beyond all logic… covering up Trump’s monstrous continuing litany of mega-policy-errors that are his and his alone.

For those states ignoring Trump’s attack on alternative energy, the rewards speak for themselves. Adele Peters, writing for the April 3rd FastCompany.com, notes how anti-Trump California is still championing “hoax” energy projects to their clear advantage. “A few days ago, the electric grid in California hit a new milestone: At 7pm on March 29, batteries provided 12.3 gigawatts of power—roughly as much as six Hoover Dams, or around 43% of the total demand on the grid.

“Nearly all of that battery storage was built in the last five years. ‘Until 2020 or 2021, battery storage was still quite expensive, but we’ve seen huge price drops over the last few years,’ says Nicolas Fulghum, senior energy and climate data analyst at Ember, a global energy think tank. When it’s paired with solar power, it can ‘bring some of that excess generation in the middle of the day to where it’s really needed, which is during the peak demand in the evening and morning,’ he says.

“The cost of batteries has dropped 99% over the last three decades. Over the last few years alone, the cost fell by about a third. The cost of solar panels has also fallen by more than 90%. By 2024, new solar projects were an average of 41% cheaper than fossil fuel alternatives.” And still Trump fights for a global perspective that does not exist. Still many of his followers refuse to believe the facts, as the Trump administration demands more WAR money, and our least effective Secretary of Defense/WAR is firing every top military general or admiral unwilling to lead this nation in an obviously losing effort, embracing war crimes along the way, to placate a clearly demented policy, a military and diplomatic road to nowhere.

I’m Peter Dekom, and Trump’s self-inflicted march to self-destruction seems to me to be a harsh explanation of nature’s “lemming law.”