‘Tis the Age of Irony. That is, an era when what is happening is opposite to what our leaders expect. Opposite to what they promise, predict and promote.

‘Tis the age of cheap energy.

Our leaders spent and spend hundreds of billions to subsidize green energy. Solar, wind, cornahol, etc. Renewable energy. The Green Revolution. They wage war on non-renewables. With heavy taxes and red tape. By refusing drilling permits. By closing promising areas to drilling. By blocking pipelines.

They predict “peak oil”. They predict green energy is the future. Our President predicts the U.S. could “become the world’s leading exporter of renewable energy.” He claims we have merely 2 percent of the world’s proven oil reserves. “Even if we drilled every square inch of this country right now, we’d still have to rely disproportionately on other countries for their oil.”

This is irony writ large. For it is the opposite of reality.

First, “Peak Oil” should be the title of a comedy. The President’s 2 percent line belongs in it. The U.S. has about 20 percent of the world’s proven oil reserves. It already produces about 85 percent of its energy needs. And year by year it produces more. And that is with one hand tied down. For instance, our leaders have placed vast areas off limits to drilling.

Our leaders prohibit us exporting oil. When they allow it again we will become a major exporter of oil and gas. Instead of green energy. In other words, our situation is the very opposite of what the President says it is.

Second, if ever we remove subsidies for green energy it won’t be able to compete with oil and gas. If oil and gas prices stay low (Oil prices have fallen a lot lately.) they will fail to compete. Despite their subsidies.

Here is another ingredient in the irony. Our efforts to reset relations with Russia flopped. Our efforts to curb Iran seem to have borne no fruit. Relations with Venezuela’s thugs have deteriorated. Our efforts with Libya the same. The rise of Isis has embarrassed us.

However, those villainous regimes are now losing strength. Their funding is shrinking. It is shrinking because the price of oil has fallen. The price of oil has fallen because we are producing so much we buy less and less on world markets.

Take away high oil revenues and these regimes are left with insipid economies. Our surging oil and gas production is doing exactly that. It is taking away some of their high revenues. The irony is that such trends have come from the energy efforts our leaders opposed.

Islamic extremists are funded by petro dollars. Lower oil prices mean less money for them. Suppose the following: We open government lands to oil drilling. We open more offshore areas to drilling. We allow our oil onto world markets directly. We would probably bring the price of oil down another 20 percent. Prices that low would truly crimp a lot of the evil behavior in the world.

One more ingredient in the irony: Finally our economy grows modestly. Does this come from the porkulus stimulus package our leaders created? With a mountain of borrowed money that will burden our economy for decades. A lot of evidence suggests the porkulus achieved little. The irony is that if we did not have the burst of fracking and drilling we would scarcely have any growth in the economy. It has created thousands of new jobs. It has lowered driving and heating costs for all Americans.

In other words, the activities our leaders supported achieved little. Those they opposed achieved a great deal.

You may love green energy and hate oil and gas. You may feel the opposite. Whatever you love and hate, you can’t fail to see what is actually occurring. Like it or not, we are waist-deep in the Age of Irony.

From Tom...as in Morgan.