Opinion: New Mexico energy workers protect U.S. From Mideast turmoil
It’s hard to find anyone across the world who is not talking about the current turmoil in Iraq and Iran. However, there is one group that is suspiciously silent: New Mexico’s radical environmental community.
Why is the eco-left so quiet when it comes to vital energy situation for our country?
A quick history lesson is in order. Over the last 50 years, instability in the Middle East was met with a spike in oil prices that hit every family America. Our country has witnessed long lines for gasoline and higher prices at the pump every time there was a hiccup thousands of miles away.
In the most extreme example, when OPEC decided on an oil embargo in 1973 prices jumped 350% causing layoffs and a severe economic downturn. The paradigm caused both Republican and Democrat Presidents alike to bemoan the situation and promise to work toward American energy independence.
Today, we’ve finally achieved that promise because of New Mexico’s energy workers.
Not long after the killing of terrorist Gen. Qassem Soleimani, one Iranian military leader threated an attack near the Strait of Hormuz – where almost 20 percent of the world’s oil travels. Senior Revolutionary Guards commander Gen. Gholamali Abuhamzeh said that “the Strait of Hormuz is a vital point for the West and a large number of American destroyers and warships cross there.”
What is the early impact to the price of a barrel of oil? As of Tuesday, it’s actually around the same price in the days following the threat than it was in the days before Solemani was killed.
New Mexico’s energy workers play a key role in developing the oil and natural gas that continue strengthening the position of the United States against vulnerabilities that have crippled our economy in the past. For the first time in generations, American energy independence is protecting our economy from instability.
Which brings us back to the silence from New Mexico’s eco left.
Less than a year ago, there was a bill in the legislature to stop hydraulic fracturing, or fracking in New Mexico. Putting aside the fact such a measure would cost our state billions in lost revenue and thousands of jobs, what would it have done to our national security?
Imagine for a moment if such a bill were law in New Mexico today. As the home to one of the most productive energy areas in the world, this short-cited ban would’ve had a massive impact on our economy and national security. Sadly, the ban on fracking isn’t the only misguided attack faced by our energy workers here in New Mexico.
As those same green groups think about driving to their next protest in a gas-powered car or sit comfortably in their offices warmed by natural gas, I hope we all recognize their hypocrisy. Not only do they personally benefit from the energy sources they are trying to destroy, they are also working to undermine our country’s economic stability in an uncertain world.
New Mexico’s energy workers help protect our economy and our national security; they deserve all the gratitude we can offer.
And yet, the silence from the eco-left is deafening.
Larry Behrens is the western states director for Power The Future.