A Gas Station with Nukes
Our headlines and news feeds are filled with the war in Ukraine and the ripple effect on the world economy and at the gas pump. As the jokes on Twitter go, I am neither a global security nor an infectious disease expert, yet as a clean-tech CEO, I feel it’s important to use my voice and my platform to drive a more coherent U.S. energy policy in the midst of this new global roller coaster.
Daniel Yergin, a leading authority on energy, geopolitics, and the global economy, perfectly sets the stage for today’s conflict in his 2020 bestselling book The New Map.
“Over his two decades as President, Vladimir Putin’s great international project has been to reassert Russia’s sway over the rest of the former Soviet Union, restore Russia as a great power globally, build new alliances, and push back against the United States. And whether Russia is partially responsible or not, Putin can point to outcomes that fit his objectives, NATO divided, The European Union in disarray, and American politics fragmented, ansty and polarized.”
No matter your politics, President Biden, NATO and the European Union have done an incredible job of showing unity, standing together and speaking with one voice in response to the unacceptable behavior and actions of Russia.
In this new world landscape, I feel compelled to use whatever platform I have to drive change in our energy policies. I do not believe things can change fast enough, but we can use this crisis as a pivot point to completely wean the U.S. and Europe off of Russian oil and gas.
Clean energy is a path to freedom.
How? Without question, we need to focus our clean energy investments in technology. This is driven by two truths. First, solar and wind are now cheaper than fossil fuels and second, climate change is speeding towards a tipping point of no return. The first gives us hope and the second motivation, and technology gives us acceleration and a path to success.
We can electrify every sector of our economy, move toward decarbonizing food production, transportation, manufacturing, home heating, cooling and cooking - but in the end, it won’t be enough unless we embrace technology to exponentially advance the cause.
Democracy and the free market.
The war in Ukraine is a powerful example of the market at work, where we all see how fossil fuel dictators can create their own truth and influence the world economy on top of exacting their will on innocent civilians - who want nothing more than freedom to raise families in peace and prosperity.
As Jimmy Carter once said, “the respect for human rights is one of the most significant advantages of a free and democratic nation in the peaceful struggle for influence, and we should use this good weapon as effectively as possible.”
In this country we have freedom, we have a free press, and we have democracy; however, the truth is all of our freedoms are under attack by those same forces at work in Ukraine and it all comes down to energy.
One political party in this country has followed a fool over the edge. They support big lies, false narratives about our citizens, voting, democracy and yes, clean energy. And now they support Putin over the children and humanity of Ukraine, and the health and wellbeing of our nation.
Democracy can be hard, but the truth is clear. We must embrace our humanity, freedom, fair elections and thoughtful climate policy to move our country forward and free ourselves from autocratic oil countries like Russia, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia.
While it might seem flippant in a time of war, Rahm Emanual’s words couldn't be more spot on. “You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.”
This is our opportunity.
We must use this moment to break the chains of fossil fuels. The market forces are clear, clean energy generation via solar and wind have evolved to be the cheapest power sources and pairing those with intelligently managed batteries will give us a win for our economy and our planet.
This will lead to freedom from OPEC and Russia while also propelling forward the greatest domestic job creation in generations because a massive force of construction labor, engineers, land developers, data scientists, software coders, sales and finance professionals will be needed now and over the next 30 years to drive this revolution to fruition.
Putting it into action.
Change starts at the ballot box - it is our weapon of good. Vote for federal, state and local political leaders who believe in climate science and will invest in clean energy infrastructure now because this crisis is immediate. It impacts our lives through the air we breathe, the forest fires and powerful storms devastating our homes and now through the heart wrenching pain we experience at the gas pump.
You can amplify those leaders’ actions by supporting and pushing for policies that incentivize the electrification of housing, transportation and manufacturing. And ask them to put a price on carbon, so the markets drive cleaner technologies and fuels forward.
The data is clear: fossil fuels are not cheaper when you account for the true costs of human health, human lives and the human assets destroyed by climate-influenced disasters.
An energy storage tax credit is needed.
While it is self-serving in the near term, we need an energy storage tax credit to accelerate our clean energy future. The positive impact to our communities and economy will be tremendous for us all. Solar, wind and batteries alone cannot get the job done fast enough, but batteries paired with intelligent software are one of the single greatest tools we can use to stimulate and amplify the efficiency and impact of clean energy.
Together, through the ballot box, aggressive policy and legislation, and continued market demand, we can deliver firm, manageable power for utilities, businesses and households and more quickly reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.
Doing good and how you can help.
Every night on the news, it’s hard to watch the nightmare that people like you and me are living through in Ukraine. In our modern world it’s unthinkable and like so many of us, we at Nikola Power want to help the millions of refugees and those trapped in basements and subway tunnels who are scared and hungry. To do this, we are working with the Footprint Project to deliver portable solar generators to the front lines in Ukraine and are matching the donations of our team. We invite you to join us and help us bring clean and stable energy and life saving relief to the men, women, children and pets of Ukraine.
~J.W.
