Cross-posted at Daily Kos
In a little noticed bill passed last week by the Senate Judiciary Committee, the US of A has put OPEC and other oil producing nations on notice that Manifest Destiny is alive and well.
Hey, it worked as a key clause of NAFTA so why not OPEC and the gang…
The bearer of desperate tidings was Senator Leahy…
….
The bill, just passed, would make it illegal for foreign states and their agents “to act collectively or in combination with any other foreign state …or agent” to limit the production of oil, natural gas, or any other petroleum product, or fix the prices of such products.
Legal action may be taken, the bill said, “when such action, combination, or collective action has a direct, substantial, and reasonably foreseeable effect on the market, supply, price, or distribution of oil, natural gas, or other petroleum product in the United States”.
[All emphasis mine]
The world is struggling to meet the current demand and with China and India becoming major consumers at a rapid pace, there truly is only so much to go around. It is fair to say that this latest action by the Congress, making it illegal for an oil producing country to reduce it’s sales to the US, is in response to the recent moves by China to shore up suppliers & Venezuela openly courting the Russians, Indonesians, Iranians & Indians in order to reduce their dependence on the US market… let alone all the talk about moving the standard currency from the dollar to the Euro and well, it’s enough to make American politicians nervous… and a cornered beast is always the most dangerous.
The question is how will OPEC and countries such as China & India react to the new saber-rattling from Washington?
And just how far are they prepared to go to enfore their legal judgment (since there will inevitably be one.. my guess is Venezuela will be the first target)?
Update: Fleet Admiral J has provided links to the Senate & House versions of the bill (NOPEC – have they no shame? Seriously now, that’s just insulting)
is it’s sponsors… Boxer, Feingold, Leahy, Conyers… the list reads as a who’s who of liberal Dems.
Oil is the only national security issue that matters these days… but of course renewable or alternative energy R&D is just a foolish fantasy eh.
How would such a law be enforced? If we could, we would have done it already…
This is “political politics” as we call it in France – pretending to act for your constituents and apprearing determined and tough at no cost (and no consequence) whatsoever). Once people see through it, and they usually do, it’s just the politicians that appear ridiculous.
It’s pretty pathetic, and it’s indeed sad to see democrats participating in that charade.
and enforcement activities in Iran are set to begin shortly.
really successful, right?
Production in Iraq is lower than it was under Saddam and meanwhile, the price of the other 90% of your consumption has doubled. A good deal for Americans…
Those who were intended to make money from it are making quite a lot.
Examples have been made to warn those who might be thinking of opposing the US.
In the US itself, even people who claim to oppose the crusade refer to Iraqis defending their homes as “insurgents,” though there is nothing in Iraq to insurge against, it is currently occupied by a hostile armed horde.
The “but there was no WMD” argument itself, while appearing to be an opposition to US policy, is in fact a confirmation of it: All nations are US property, and the privilege of self-defense, like sovereignity or weapons, can be granted or denied only by the grace and pleasure of the US.
During the recent “election” events in the US, the arguments of the ostensible opposing party, the Democrats, consisted largely of lively debate about whether, how much and to whom America should outsource crusade wetwork.
And I did not intend to leave out Afghanistan in my original post, with Haiti, it stands as the crown jewel and gleaming example of just what Americans can accomplish when they pull together and willingly fund the modern day equivalent of Genghis Khan’s posse.
In a sane America, with a rational president & congress, I would agree with you. Unfortunately I see this as an attempt to legalize any future action against nations like Iran, Cuba & Venezuela — of course we must impose harsh sanctions or seize assets (or perhaps military action – covert or overt), they broke the law and are endangering the national security of the USA.
It also puts Russia, China et al on notice that the US is prepared to play hard ball over natural resources & any challenge to US dominance (remember this is now the official national security policy of the US). The fact it has bi-partisan support makes it that much worse IMO.
with domestic laws.
You don’t go around stealing oil from other countries because (i) they will fight back and won’t let you and (ii) you cannot do it on a big scale enough for your needs.
Having a law saying that you can means nothing. You either do it or you don’t.
True enough, but the US has blantantly stated that International laws don’t matter.
It also gives them additional ammo in going to the WTO etc. if they felt they needed diplomatic cover.
‘File lawsuits’ in what court? By definition, no law passed by a sovereign state is binding upon another. Only mutually recognized treaties are. It may come as news to the clowns on the Hill, but the United States of America cannot legally dictate how other nations arrange and coordinate their oil production.
And the Democrats are behind this? Even Boxer?
ROFL. What a lame joke America has become.
If we can put to vote the invasion of another country, we can put to vote what we want other countries to do – hell nobody is stopping us. Both are ludicrous and pretty damn demented things to do. (Penis dimension problem on a national level or something like that, not being a fan of psychotherapy I don’t know what else to call it.)
do all kinds of things. It’s a pretty longstanding policy that enjoys broad bipartisan and public support.
This legislation merely documents existing policy and practice.
With an arsenal like the US has, lawsuits are unecessary. Afghanistan, Haiti, Iraq, are just a few examples of the penalty the American people will exact on disobedient international assets, or as we terrorists like to call them, “other countries.”
While this arrogant bipartisan US policy of dictating to all and sundry in the world is widely known and resented by people(as opposed to governments) throughout the world, I just wonder how many US based Americans are actually aware of the policy or even care?
Sort of a sense of entitlement, a cultural solipcism, so deeply ingrained that many are probably not even aware of it, or aware of it in the sense of it being wrong, or the reality of what it means, or how it affects other people, and certainly not the extreme danger to themselves.
Those who are see that very danger as proof of the necessity of the policy.
Others even seem very sincere and well-intentioned about it. For some there is a religious element, a kind of divine right of America, some see it as a kind of national Darwinism, based on their conviction that all the bombs and the money constitute a superiority.
To the extent there is debate, it tends to focus on which countries to control and the length of the leash, and by what method.
get underneath all their sand?
Strange to me that Canada has been left out of the discussion. Here are the facts:
Canada is a net exporter of oil, natural gas, coal, uranium, and hydropower. It is one of the most important sources of U.S. energy imports.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/canada.html
Canada exports 95% of its oil to the USA.
Also 15% of the population of Alberta, the source of Canada’s oil and gas, are US citizens
Canada has been courting the Chinese & Russians behind the scenes and is supportive of the Chavez gov’t (for the most part) as well as has normalized relations with Cuba… who btw have just discovered a huge oil deposit 100 miles off shore. Well within their territorial waters.
However, all that being said, Canada is not about to declare natural resources war on the US (and even if we wanted to we can’t, it’s a key clause of NAFTA).
I wrote a couple of pieces about the politics surrounding oil if anyone is interested in the recent developements:
China moves closer to Latin America & The Great Game part III: China & Venezuela
Thank you.
I will read your diary with interest.