US Oil Boom Empowers Trump's Imperial Dreams, Not Peace
The latest Axios piece, breathlessly titled "How the US oil boom empowers Trump over Venezuela," reads like an ode to petro-imperialism. It positions America’s record oil production as a strategic advantage, freeing a president to "capture Venezuela's leader" or "threaten and bomb Iran" without fear of pump price blowback. Dan Yergin, the oil historian quoted, gushes about a "sense of confidence
and security." One might wonder for whom this confidence is intended. This isn't about energy security for the average American, it’s about unchecked power for the executive branch and profit for the fossil fuel industry. The article glosses over the devastation wrought by previous U.S. attempts to control foreign oil, from CIA-backed coups in Iran's past to years of sanctions crippling ordinary
Venezuelans. The 'freedom' to act without spiking pump prices merely lowers the domestic political cost for interventions that often fuel instability abroad and line the pockets of defense contractors and Exxon alike. (Who, coincidentally, saw their assets expropriated by Venezuela in 2007, prompting the original U.S. sanctions.)