CANADIAN & U.S. TRADE DEAR AMERICA, STOP DISRUPTING $2 TRILLION IN CROSS-BORDER ENERGY TRADE by Mark Milke & Lennie Kaplan I t should be obvious that in a world where Russian President, Vladimir Putin is widely assumed to be behind the August poison- ing of that country’s opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, that perhaps liberal democracies should stick together.
This should be especially relevant on matters related to energy. After all, oil and natural gas exports are oneway inwhich autocracies pressure nearby countries and their political class to avoid criticizing Moscow too often or too publicly. Using energy exports as a weapon is exactly what Russia has been doing for more than a decade. In 2009, Russia cut off the natural gas supply to Ukraine in mid-winter, ostensibly over a pricing dispute, but in reality, it was an attempt to control Ukraine. That example and others are why some German lawmakers, including the head of the parliamen- tary committee on foreign affairs, wants a nearly complete Russian natural gas pipeline (Nord Stream 2) that deadheads in Germany, cancelled. Unlike some German politicians who want a pipeline killed because they fear Germany will becomeoverly reliant onanautocracy that targets political opponents with a death sentence, some American politicians target pipelines from a friendly nearby liberal democracy—Canada. Thus, one of the first acts from new American President, Joe Biden was to cancel the presidential permit for Keystone XL. Meanwhile, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has been trying for months to kill off Line 5, a pipeline that
has been delivering oil and natural gas liquids since 1953. That pipeline, which owner Enbridge wants to make even more safe (there have been no spills in seven decades) by rerouting and encasing in cement 100 feet under Lake Michigan, is none- theless the latest target of anti-oil and gas activ- ists and a minority of American politicians. Reality check: Americans and Canadians are better served by continuing policies which have served both countries well since at least the 1973-74 energy crisis. (That’s when OPEC cut off oil flows to the U.S. in response to pro-Is - rael policy, cut production, and sent oil prices soaring by 300% in five months, damaging the American economy.) Friendly and complimentary Canada-U.S. policy is in part why—long before the U.S. could extract oil and natural gas in volumes high enough to reach virtual energy independence— total energy flows between the two nations have been worth nearly $2 trillion since 2000: because Canadian oil helps keep the American economy humming and natural gas helps keep American homes warm. Between 2000 and 2019, much of that trade flow, over $1.6 trillion, came from the oil and natural
“CanadianoilhelpskeeptheAmerican economy humming and natural gas helps keep American homes warm.”
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MARCH 2021 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • MARCH 2021
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