‘Nord Stream 2 is not a business project. It’s an energy weapon.” This is the assessment Latvia’s foreign minister, Edgars Rinkevics, gave when I asked him about the new gas pipeline mega project that has brought Brussels into sharp conflict with its usual favourite, German chancellor Angela Merkel. Rinkevics was speaking on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, where Germany’s allies repeatedly expressed resentment at its move to press on with Nord Stream 2. The new pipeline will double Russia’s capacity to export directly to Germany, bypassing Ukraine, Poland and other transit states. In her conference speech, Merkel devoted a whole section to defending Nord Stream 2 and dismissing the idea Moscow would use it as a weapon. After all, she said, the way Russia’ s gas reaches Europe hardly matters; gas is gas. A more honest Merkel might have said: “Damn the consequences – when you have big industry to feed, cheap gas is good gas.”
Telegraph 18th Feb 2019 read more »
What needs to happen to deliver the striking schoolchildren the deliverance they are pleading for in the face of the climate threat? How far are the big oil companies away from being able to help with that?
Jeremy Leggett 17th Feb 2019 read more »
