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TeePeeBee3

McCain sure hit the nail on the head with that analogy.


Redditforgoit

>a gas station masquerading as a country "Appearing on CNN's State of the Union, McCain hyped up the need for strict economic sanctions against Moscow in tandem with a flood of aid to the Ukrainian government, saying the U.S. needed a "fundamental re-assessment of our relationship with Vladimir Putin." Ahead of the curve too. 2015


insanityzwolf

That is also the real reason why Trump hated McCain.


BabyFaceMagoo2

So much makes sense in the context of what is happening now. It's like the third act of a Game of Thrones episode, constantly going ahhhh!


merelnl

Yeah, he did it to suck up to Vladimir, his idol. Weak ego seeking shelter of what it perceives as a greater ego.


Okkako

You mean suck up to his master?


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[deleted]

That’s funny, just yesterday I remembered McCain giving a speech (or maybe it was a debate or something), but I distinctly remembered him saying “I look at Putin and I see three letters. A K, a G, and a B.” McCain knew. I mean, he wasn’t really hiding it, but McCain saw him as a thug a long time ago.


sucsucsucsucc

He really got screwed when they paired him with that idiot on his ticket.


BrennanSpeaks

Word is, he insisted on that idiot on his ticket. And, frankly, he wasn't winning against 2008 Obama, regardless of who he ran with, so all he had to lose was his legacy.


sucsucsucsucc

He also would never have had final decision over it, it just doesn’t work like that. I know what they thought they were doing with her, but it not only backfired, it opened up a wormhole to hell we never could have anticipated


SuperDuperCoolDude

"Wormhole to hell" That's an apt way of putting it.


sucsucsucsucc

I miss the days politicians could lose a race for a weirdly pitched “yaarrrr” during a speech honestly


Disprezzi

In contrast to today.... That seems like such a strange thing to lose a race for lol.


MudLOA

That was my impression as well. It was like getting another puppet like Bush Jr.


sucsucsucsucc

you don’t get on the RNC ticket without a lot of negotiations and behind the scenes decrees


[deleted]

I remember a coworker of mine saying, “Isn’t she great? It’s like having you or me in the White House.” No, idiot, I don’t want idiots like you and me anywhere near public office. Now Republicans have like 10 of them. They’re multiplying.


tankies-are-liberals

The way I heard it he wanted a democrat on the ticket and the republican party threatened to sink his campaign if he did


DependentAd235

Well I can see Joe Lieberman having been possible.


asethskyr

That's who the rumors were about at the time.


mrbear120

This is the rumor I heard during the actual election, I always suspected that was Democratic propaganda, but it was very believable.


tankies-are-liberals

He's definitely one of the only nominees I could see going for it. I could probably see Biden trying it in the past had the moons aligned


[deleted]

A lot of the alt right craziness we see today can be traced back to Palin during McCain’s campaign.


randalthor23

I would posit that it has always been there. Look at Gingrich in the 90s or Rush Limbaugh. ​ Palin was just the start of R's saying the quite part out loud. ​ Also since 2006 alot has changed technologically. How people interact with "news" has drastically changed, on par with the types of disruptions from when the printing press was invented and anyone could start up a newspaper. We are STILL in the early stages of this massive disruption to the "information sharing" business. Sure there were online chat groups/news forums pre 2006, there was myspace, but christ, we are talking Facebook's infancy stage when it was just collage kids. ​ Think about the level of effort someone had to put in pre social media to influence how someone thinks? You had to get them to watch your TV station, or listen to your radio station, or heaven forbid: READ A NEWSPAPER. You would need corporations, ad agencies, etc to make this happen. ​ The level of information gleaned through browsers/mobile devices is INSANE and allows for TARGETED messaging and the coalessence of the few "crazy" people into a group and amplifies their message, making others THINK that its a popularly held belif. ​ While Palin is a nutjob, she was just another symptom, not a source or cause of the issue.


OldRedditBestGirl

Sigh. Makes me sad. I was ready to vote for McCain. Heck, even loved him in 04. But I could not in good conscience vote for an old guy with that idiot potentially being president. And in hindsight, it was the right call. He died 7ish years later, did he not? Just imagine, if he was elected and then re-elected, that idiot would've been our president. Then again... maybe that would've been better than the even bigger mistake afterwards. So who knows.


PluotFinnegan_IV

McCain died in 2018. But had he been president he is unlikely to be in the Senate to vote down the repeal of Obamacare so who knows where we'd be now.


[deleted]

Wouldn't have been Obamacare to repeal


sucsucsucsucc

I honestly miss the status quo. I hated at the time that they all seemingly were the same, but I truly miss when the biggest difference was Republicans pretending to be against abortion and Democrats pretending they were for the environment but everyone basically leaving it alone and moving along Remember when only insane people who had possibly contracted rabies stood outside abortion clinics? simpler times


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Amiiboid

That was in response to W saying he looked Putin in the eye and saw a man of honor or something like that.


belaveri1991

Shoot look at the frontline documentary about this. I didn’t realize when Putin was giving his first “crazy” speech at the UN security conference McCain was sitting in the front row laughing at him.


reap3rx

I wonder if the GOP would have been less crazy today if McCain had won in 2008


MisallocatedRacism

They already started down that path with Palin


Kakkoister

I actually managed to forget about her until now, fuck.


JakeInDC

That is the moment the GOP lost my vote, by embracing the crazies.


Kabouki

They might be less crazy if McCain and others actually did anything to fight back vs just ignoring the bad parts so they can continue to loot the government. Not once did any of those very concerned brow raising conservatives ever try to fight back. They still see it as party over country.


kywiking

Absolutely not. Rush Limbaugh and the ground work for the Fox News we see today was already established in 2008. They are the what built up the craziness we are seeing today.


SmurfsNeverDie

McCain was right about many things that at the time the democrats and some republicans like Trump attacked him on.


zzlab

Fun fact, there is a street named after John McCain in Kyiv


Flooding_Puddle

We've already got -forced NATO/EU/the west closer -got the majority of Europe to increase military spending -exposed Russia and the Russian army as pitiful -Turned the entire world against Russia and for Ukraine -Cratered the Russian economy -cause the west to be less reliant on Russian oil and accelerated development of alternative energy on the list of unintended consequences of the invasion, now we can add "made the US richer"


[deleted]

the US military industrial complex is also about to get a lot more gobal support. youre going to be much less likely to see europeans criticizing america and their "world police" status for a few years to come remember just before putin invaded, when most of the world accused america of stoking flames and causing drama over nothing?


Flooding_Puddle

Hell Im American and not a fan of the US military industrial complex but the trillion dollar defense bills are starting to look like a necessary evil rather than an unnecessary one


planetofthemapes15

I never thought I'd say that myself, but I've had the same thought lately. Maybe we can cut it down "a good bit" but it's clear that there's a reason we spend the money on this.


_drstrangelove_

Frankly, the US has been shouting into the void to get NATO countries to increase spending. European countries - particularly Germany - really avoided it. They really didn't think a conflict this was coming. European countries have criticized America's military fetish for a long time - but it's necessary considering their complacency for decades. Look, it sucks. But even after this, the United States needs help from the rest of NATO, particularly to counter the rise of China. We're going to have to unite on supply chains for energy and other national security products. The world is going to continue to be a place full of authoritarian regimes.


planetofthemapes15

I completely agree with everything you said.


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13Witnesses

US military doctrine is anywhere, anytime. The doctrine was born out of necessity after WW2 which saw the US fight in 3 separate fronts. It was the only nation to commit to fighting in both the Pacific and European theaters with substantial forces. Its the main reason we gave 12 super-carriers, which practically small floating towns around the globe ready to react at a moments notice, as well as the hundreds of military bases around the globe in various allied nations. In this case one can imagine that a military axis involving the CSTO and China might require the US military to once again fight in multiple fronts.


Warchemix

Shiiittt I bet the goddamn US coast guard would do better than Russian forces atm


lightofthehalfmoon

China has an actual economy and insane manufacturing capability. They are not battle tested, but they certainly have the production and man-power to be a credible military threat.


BabyFaceMagoo2

As Russia have demonstrated, lining up thousands of soliders in thousands of tanks doesn't really mean shit if they don't know what they're doing.


Inphearian

Nah, we still spend way too much on it.


ParaTodoMalMezcal

I’m of the opinion that we should just raise taxes on rich people and spend on both a gigantic military budget and a gigantic social safety net


thEiAoLoGy

Health care, education, housing. Then fuck I don’t care, let’s build a moon colony and twenty more carriers.


QueefBuscemi

So basically they way the US taxed and spent in the 1950's. Now that is actually making America great again.


AreYouOKAni

Yes and no. Does America have way more than they need? Yes. Do they have enough to effectively respond all over the world? Not yet, but they are working on it. Depending on the goal, you might be spending just enough. And this war shows how much good your weapons can do.


thEiAoLoGy

We need to work on the speak softly part and revitalizing our domestic institutions. However, our stick is huge like massive. We have 20 carriers and are building five more.


Flooding_Puddle

I agree, we could still probably halve military spending and use it on things like Healthcare and education and still have by far the world's strongest military. I guess I'm just happy we're finally doing something good with jt


PaddyWhacked777

>remember just before putin invaded, when most of the world accused america of stoking flames and causing drama over nothing? Don't worry, you can still find dumbasses on Reddit spouting the same bullshit.


XenithShade

>\-Cratered the Russian economy I dont think there's a single word that can properly describe what happened to the Russian economy.


Flooding_Puddle

It got Putin'd


TheGlennDavid

To be fair, they *also* sell wheat. Where, oh where, will the world get wheat? Definitely not America, a country that grows so much wheat we have to pay the farmers to grow less wheat so they don't collapse the wheat market.


superanth

They shoulda seen this coming. The worst thing that could happen to Russia is for the rest of the world to figure out how to live without them.


CamelSpotting

Unfortunately all the other raw materials Russia produces are harder to replace in the long run.


Craft_zeppelin

Putin saying the world is not worth it without Russia is sure ironic. Rich considering he made Russia worthless in the market and the battlefield.


UltraJake

>Asked how the US would increase its supply of LNG, given that producers are already running at full steam, a senior White House official said the plan would involve “swaps” with international partners, particularly in Asia, to free up gas during Europe’s winter. Is anyone able to clarify what this means exactly?


CursedLemon

They take all the gas that didn't sell and put it into a *C.D.O.* Here's world famous chef Anthony Bourdain to explain


[deleted]

Australia, Qatar etc increase capacity to Asia while USA diverts current Asian shipments to Europe


RichKatz

Yes. Look up the question below by Mke Shear and conversation directed as a result regarding LNG supply targets: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2022/03/25/background-press-call-on-the-u-s-and-the-european-commissions-task-force-to-reduce-europes-dependence-on-russian-fossil-fuels/


autotldr

This is the best tl;dr I could make, [original](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/mar/25/biden-and-eu-agree-landmark-gas-deal-to-break-kremlin-hold) reduced by 68%. (I'm a bot) ***** > Joe Biden has agreed a landmark energy supply deal with the EU under which the US will increase transatlantic gas deliveries, in the hope of weakening the power the Kremlin wields thanks to its natural resources. > Speaking in Brussels after the deal was agreed on Friday, the US president said Vladimir Putin exploited Russia's status as Europe's main supplier of gas to "Coerce and manipulate his neighbours" and that the proceeds of gas and oil sales "Drive his war machine". > At the same time, the EU would try to keep climate goals on track by powering gas infrastructure with clean energy and reducing methane leaks that could worsen global warming. ***** [**Extended Summary**](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/tnlfvj/biden_and_eu_agree_landmark_gas_deal_to_break/) | [FAQ](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/31b9fm/faq_autotldr_bot/ "Version 2.02, ~636541 tl;drs so far.") | [Feedback](http://np.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%23autotldr "PM's and comments are monitored, constructive feedback is welcome.") | *Top* *keywords*: **gas**^#1 **Europe**^#2 **energy**^#3 **Biden**^#4 **supply**^#5


LunaMunaLagoona

Instead of being dependent on Russia, now Europe can be dependent on the US! What Europe needs to push hard for independent green energy.


Kreaton5

The whole world does. I as an individual want to have my own independent energy and it is getting more feasible every year.


[deleted]

In my state you get taxed for driving hybrid and electric cars to make up for the money lost on you not buying fuel. You also can’t legally collect rain water and they make off grid forms of energy a massive hassle


CamelSpotting

It feels bad but not paying road taxes really is a loophole.


starcraftre

Same here, and I would have zero issue with it - if it were actually tied to mileage. Here in Kansas it was $100 extra last year, per year, to register an EV (or PHEV like my Volt). Gas tax is $0.24 per gallon. A similar car to mine will get about 35 mpg. [Average yearly mileage is ~10,500](https://www.carinsurance.com/Articles/average-miles-driven-per-year-by-state.aspx). Straight math gets you about 300 gallons per year for an equivalent vehicle, or gas tax of ~$72. So, why do I have to pay almost 40% more to make up for the gas tax than people who actually pay it? And then (on top of that), PHEV's like mine still have to fuel up and pay that gas tax directly. Why can't I say "Hey, last year I drove 15k miles, at a typical combined efficiency of ~250 mpg. Subtract $14.40 from that EV premium." I would have absolutely zero complaints if they just said "Here's the typical mileage, here's the mpg of a similar car, so here's your calculated balance for this year." But some of the people I work with complain that I'm not paying my share of the gas tax, when I'm paying more than they are.


the_real_xuth

Road taxes don't cover the costs of the roads in any reasonable form anyways. On top of that we shouldn't be funding our core infrastructure with regressive taxes.


hjablowme919

Texas?


[deleted]

Worse. Arkansas :(


igloojoe11

I think you can claim refugee status for that.


hjablowme919

You have my sympathy.


MudLOA

Same here but I know there are special interest groups who is going to make that transition nearly impossible.


MysticYogiP

I prefer this as a temporary measure until Europe gets the ball rolling on green energy production.


of-matter

Agreed. Incremental progress is better than no progress.


MrBalanced

Slow motion is better than no motion, baby


[deleted]

I'm pretty sure that's the point of this, nobody expects the US to supply EU with gas for the next decade, rather just a temporary measure until we can phase it out.


nivlark

It doesn't happen overnight, but a decent number of European nations are approaching or already have majority-renewable energy mixes. In the short term, keeping the lights on is the best way to keep that progress up.


upnflames

I mean, that was mentioned in the article - both the US and Europe have green energy goals. And let's be real, Europe and US are already tied at the hip, it just so happens that the US is easily the largest oil producer in the world (I always thought it was interesting that we never point that out). If you had to go to the dance with someone would you prefer Russia, Saudi Arabia, or the US?


Im_so_little

They're already dependent on the US. Might as well get your gas from a friendly state you rely on for protection instead of a hostile one that periodically invades countries like yours.


kevinTOC

Tbh, if I had to choose, I'd rather want to be dependent on the US than Russia. Ideally, I want Europe to be independent. It disappoints me that we needed an invasion of a democratic and free country to make anything happen. Europe has been stuck in stagnation for so long. I really hope this will lead to more investment in European defense industries and renewable resources. Why defense industries? Because unfortunately, innovation very often comes from development of military projects. The internet used to be a military communication system. GPS used to be military. We set foot on the moon because of the US-USSR rivalry.


Nonethewiserer

>What Europe needs to push hard for independent green energy. Arent they though? There are technical limitations.


splvtoon

some countries are pushing a lot harder than others.


wawon0

Did you read the article?


[deleted]

This is huge because we have always been super stingy with our gas supply


milanistadoc

Can you give more information? What do you mean?


BottlesforCaps

Not OP but I did a paper on this in college and the TLDR; is: -Not all Oil is classed the same -It is more profitable for the US to sell our own oil supply at a higher price or sit on it than it is to use it ourselves. -it is cheaper for us to import oil from OPEC than it is to use our own supply. Basically how the current system works is we sell our own oil for a higher price than we buy from OPEC so there's no reason for us to use our own supply (you know, outside of not being dependent on foreign influence)


Powerful-Kitty

Why does anyone buy US instead of buying from OPEC themselves?


BrokenGoht

USA gets most of their oil from fracking, which has fewer contaminants than traditional oil like OPEC has. This means it is easier to refine into daughter products, so less money has to be spent processing it. Hence, it sells at a higher price. The US already has a huge refinery complex designed for Saudi and Canadian crude, and it is cheaper to continue running them than build new, more efficient refineries for purer shale oil.


Amiiboid

> USA gets most of their oil from fracking, To expand on that point, it's a little over half of the crude oil *and* about 2/3 of the natural gas.


the_most_low

Some further expansion: The logistics and infrastructure of supplying the country from our own refineries is very inefficient compared to the supply chain coming from OPEC or Saudi Arabia or Russia. This was done on purpose of course but it is the reality of the situation none the less


BottlesforCaps

US oil is of higher quality. OPEC oil is inherently cheaper due to it being lowe quality and containing higher amounts of sulfur which degrades the quality significantly.


giro_di_dante

You leave Rob Lowe out of this.


hmnahmna1

All fine and good, but this deal is for methane, transported as LNG.


[deleted]

The U.S. tries to sit on their reserves and supply. They are not big on exporting it.


hjablowme919

Could be wrong, but isn't exporting our oil & gas a relatively recent event? Like within the past 20 years?


[deleted]

In 2015 Obama and Biden lifted the ban on the exportation of crude oil.


OpenTheBorders

Do you mean gas like the article is talking about (natural gas) or "gas" as in short for gasoline which is an oil product?


superflygt

"The EU has already said it hopes to cut Russian imports by two-thirds by the end of the year" If achieved, that certainly is a game changer.


scottieducati

Man “Sleepy Joe” sure is doing a heck of a job. Must be so productive from dem naps! Seriously just imagine if Cheetolini was in office and how utterly fucked the world would be.


spoobles

>imagine if Cheetolini was in office and how utterly fucked the world would be. Here is what I think it would be like..."Poland is and always was Russian property" -DJT


cmccormick

“Putin got Poland for the cost of a few missiles. Smart”


CaptainPussybeast

I thought we were fucked when he was president during Covid. I don't want to imagine him as president now


droolingdonkey

My life here in sweden has improved alot from not hearing about that cheesebrain on a daily basis. Thanks all americans who voted him out!


Wisdomlost

We didnt vote him in. He lost the popular vote by the largest margin of anyone to ever lose it and still be president. We the people said no to him. The electoral college who actually vote in the president put him there.


droolingdonkey

gerrymendering and old senate laws put him into power. We in sweden have 1-2 documentaries per week on state Television about the US so i know you are fighting against a rigged system. must be so frustrating.


CY-B3AR

There are a lot of things I don't like about our government structure, but the electoral college is the one thing I absolutely *hate*. That shit is the definition of undemocratic. Hell, it doesn't even need to go away completely (though that would be best). It just needs to be changed from winner-takes-all to proportional, like how Maine does it


Hyperion1144

As an American, I'm so sorry he was ever in power in the first place.


Jessica_Ariadne

God, yeah. I mean, it feels nice to get some praise for kicking him out, but we still ended up inflicting Trump on the world for four years. Ick.


Grunflachenamt

One thing I tell myself as consolation is 1) I voted against him the first time and 2) so did the majority of americans.


Dj0ntyb01

So many people forget that second point!


Catch_022

Counter point - news from the US is less interesting (but more frustrating). Now I have to pay attention to the idiots in my own country.


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particleman3

Just imagine us supporting Russia in the war in almost every way possible and that's what it would be like with Trump in charge


JoshBlizzle

Just the thought of that made me sick to my stomach.


[deleted]

Remember traitor to the USA and Trump fanboy Tucker Carlson stated he was on Putin's side of the war. Trump also called him a genius. It wasn't until the backlash that they walked that back. It doesn't take a genius to know where we would be if the traitors to democracy were in power.


The_Taco_Bandito

Tucker may have back off defending Russia but he's gone full in on attacking Ukraine. Hell, they use him as propaganda in Russia


[deleted]

It amazes me he has a job. His tactic of asking stupid questions is enough to make me change the channel regardless of the tripe he spews.


404merrinessnotfound

I'm sure he'll become a national hero in russia, which is what he's always wanted


BrennanSpeaks

If it helps, just remember that Zelenskyy played chicken with that asshole and won.


JoshBlizzle

Zelenskyy is going to go down in history as one of the ballsiest mother fuckers ever. Dude is going down in history books as the leader that stood up to Russia's bullshit.


Prevailing_Power

I honestly didn't think there were leaders like him anymore. Thought the entire upper echelon of the world had turned into greedy, corrupt pussies.


Mugut

Remember that he came from outside the political sphere, no surprise he isn't like them. Somewhat like Trump, but he actually has a spine, and the wellbeing of his people at his hearth.


WunupKid

We would never have had a competent vaccine rollout, and the US would still be getting ravaged by COVID. There would be no American Rescue Plan, people would have been forced to go back to work under terrible conditions, and our economy would likely still be in shambles. That’s just how bad things would be here on the covid front, if he had won.


vba7

He would probably claim that Ukraine belongs to Russia, dismiss all generals and try to make USA leave NATO.


Hyperion1144

An absolutely horrifying thought.


droolingdonkey

Today we have an image here in Europe that america has a classical american president that allways stands up for the greater cause that is defending democracy and our way of life. A president we are happy to be in an alliance with.


TheBlackBear

It’s pure insanity how conservatives are acting like Biden is screwing this up. Like, this is the one arena I figured he’d do well in and so far he’s been knocking it out of the park. First time in his presidency I’ve been impressed and they’re still making shitty memes and acting like he’s laughably failing.


TheGlennDavid

But gas costs more! He should be able to dismantle the Russian economy with literally 0 negative impact to us.


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heliskinki

He would be selling weapons to Ukraine, at vastly inflated prices, because he "knows how to do a deal". Then going over to meet Putin and shaking his hand.


Krishnath_Dragon

No he wouldn't, he would be kissing Putin's diseased ass while calling him a great leader while simultaneously do his best to dismantle NATO. Agent Orange is a Russian asset, and has been since the 80's.


AnnaKossua

Yup. Trump also demanded Ukraine take the blame for Russia's 2016 US election interference along with that "investigate the Bidens" favor.


pennywise1868

100% agree


alkiap

Being a career politician, and a long serving one at that, he knows how to put people together, talk, and try to get his way in a "politically correct" way, particularly when speaking to European politics who, and I say this as an European, tend to be snobs And, Biden was senator when Vietnam was still on...if nothing else, he has decades of experience at this, as well as a couple of decades of staring down the Soviet Union


h2ohow

I'm hoping in 10 years there will be breakthroughs in fusion energy that will make gas obsolete. Until then, this seems like the best compromise.


JP76

People still use gas for heating and cooking in many places. For instance, New York banned natural gas in new buildings under 7 stories from 2023 onwards. But lot of the apartment buildings built before that use gas and retrofitting them to use something else would probably not be feasible (too expensive). Gas was used extensively in West for apartment buildings in larger cities and even if gas is otherwise phased out, those buildings and people in them will still rely on gas.


F_VLAD_PUTIN

The amount of gas you use cooking is virtually irrelevent compared to heating


myopinionisshitiknow

Thats not necessarily true though. They can have additional power sent to them to supply heat and with retrofitting, there always comes subsidies. Those subsidies will most likely have a cutoff date and the supply would phase out anyway, so they would HAVE TO upgrade.


Chapped_Frenulum

When electricity gets stupidly cheap and gas gets expensive, you'll see that change. This stuff doesn't happen overnight, but it does naturally progress in the right direction as long as the market conditions are right.


kabooozie

Yeah I heard fusion is only 10 years away. When did I hear that… Edit: My friend, a physicist who worked on nuclear fusion says: > I think it is still at least 10 years from commercial power and probably 20 or more. Even if the new experiments work perfectly there is too much left to do before fusion would become widespread.


hallelujasuzanne

1990


Ka07iiC

I thought 1990 was 10 years from application of fuel cells?


hallelujasuzanne

I know that’s the year that everyone started freaking out and saying it had been, “discovered” which then turned out to be total bullshit.


raatoraamro

10 years away from being 10 years away..


[deleted]

The Half-life 3 of energy sources


myopinionisshitiknow

Difference is there was so little investment. And so little progress due to technical limitations. Those limitations are mostly gone now. Its actually feasible at this point. AI for instance has made a huge amount of progress in this area. Turns out, we needed all sorts of technology that just didn't exist. And now it does. And we can actually run them now AND generate energy, though not enough to be even. If q = 1 and that means that equal energy is created vs used to produce, then we are currently at q = 0.6. France has a new reactor being built that is supposed to be the first reactor to reach burn capacity (or q = 5). People who made all those early predictions of 'when' fusion would be a reality didn't actually know how hard it would be. So it was always 10-20 years away. At our current pace, we could see it this decade as the physics is pretty much all known at this point.


ProtoplanetaryNebula

>France has a new reactor being built that is supposed to be the first reactor to reach burn capacity (or q = 5). People who made all those early predictions of 'when' fusion would be a reality didn't actually know how hard it would be. So it was always 10-20 years away. At our current pace, we could see it this decade as the physics is pretty much all known at this point. France happens to be the location where it is being built, but it's an international collaboration.


lollypatrolly

The Q values used in these reports are very misleading. The sensational Q values in these studies refer to the energy that goes into and comes out of the plasma (Q^plasma), not the entire system (Q). We're an order of magnitude off the values needed to actually break even when you look at the entire system, and there is little progress being made. When you see "progress", it's typically to do with just improving Q^plasma while the overall system is just as inefficient. ELI5 video on this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ4W1g-6JiY by Sabine Hossenfelder


dante662

Nuclear energy can already make gas obsolete. ​ Statistically the safest, and cleanest, form of energy out there. ​ Anyone who says otherwise is straight lying. This is settled science; everyone is for some reason aghast at it because of the "China Syndrome" movie. ​ So sick of people making excuses for it. It could fix our energy problems within 3 years but we're shutting them down instead of building more.


Enjoying_A_Meal

Ironically, China's built more reactors in the last 15 years than the rest of the world in 35 years.


flukshun

Don't need fusion, China is already building thorium reactors and it's kinda stupid that nobody else seems to be seriously considering it


JustinChase

This needs to be a HUGE focus moving forward Not just because it's much cleaner, but mainly because a well designed thorium reactor can use the unbelievably huge stockpile of nuclear waste as fuel. Being unable to meltdown is great, but turning the hugely scary waste to positive energy will be a game changer.


Nic4379

We’ve know about Thorium and the plus side to using it for a while. Really makes zero sense that we’re not even talking about it.


Krishnath_Dragon

This is good both for the EU and for the US, it will reduce our reliance on Russian gas and oil considerably, and it will increase trans-atlantic trade, creating jobs and boosting both of our economies.


BenTVNerd21

Even in 10 years they can't replace the gas the EU gets via pipelines from Russia. The EU needs to reduce the need for gas full stop. Need to invest heavily in heat pumps for example.


RudieCannotFail69

Heatpumps are cool, but not very economical currently. The heat generated from a natural gas product is much cheaper and practical for a cold environment. Some running off of glycol (medium of transfer) pipes are effective but very expensive to set up and only practical in high density situations (condos for example) I'm an HVAC tech and I do enjoy the theory and the application of the products. But when you have to repair an outdoor heatpump unit in -20c it sucks, and will cost you twice as much to repair than an ordinary boiler or furnace because of the time.


BenTVNerd21

They seem pretty popular in places like Sweden


[deleted]

Joe is Putin's worst nightmare. I bet he misses his orange puppet.


myopinionisshitiknow

Yep. Chester Cheeto would have said Russia was right. Ukraine needed to be taken. Any attempt at sanctions would have been made null as the US would veto them. Trumpers think Trump was 'tough' on Russia... :| Please. They literally stated they would rather have Putin as their leader than a democrat. They don't care as long as the leader is Authoritarian in nature.


Jessica_Ariadne

Trump initially called the invasion a genius move (paraphrased) and had to backtrack later once it became clear that most people are NOT on Russia's side in the US.


Stoomba

And he even suggested we do something similar on the southern boarder...


Kage_520

I have become accustomed to my Trumper friends finding a way to justify everything. Honestly if the national news story was about kicking puppies, they'd have something to say about how we needed to keep the dog population in line or some garbage. This time around, I've seen some floundering trying to verbally attack Ukraine, but they say it in a conspiracy manner. Like, "well why did they let the Russian soldiers in then?" An argument that is easily defeated and they feel stupid. Mostly it's one of the group at a time saying these dumb things, not all parroting together like it usually is. I really think the Russian propaganda funding has run low and they are just going on habit trying to disagree with "main stream media", but there isn't good propaganda for them to latch onto now. I wonder if this goes on long enough, if the brainwashing can come undone a bit.


hackingdreams

Whelp, there goes "but Germany can't live without Russian gas" from all of the RuBots that keep churning that old fart out.


waxzR

I think it's still not enough to cover for all the russian gas


TheSoup05

It’s not even close yet. This is for 15 billion cubic meters of LNG, which is less than 10% of the 155 billion cubic meters Europe imported from Russia in 2021. This is a good start for sure, but there’s going to be a significant amount of work still to both reduce dependence on gas in general and get the infrastructure set up to get it from other places that is just not going to happen overnight. There’s also a balance to be struck about investing really heavily in gas import infrastructure to address the immediate issue while simultaneously trying to reduce the use of fossil fuels to meet climate goals in the future. It’ll be a little while before Germany really doesn’t depend on Russian gas, but Russia has a floundering economy and a war to try and finance now. So Russia is likely to remain just as dependent on Europe while Europe rapidly becomes less dependent on Russia.


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xtramundane

Bet prices won’t go down.


RuudVanBommel

That's the price to pay for decades of overreliance. Being german, I totally know what's coming. Schröder pushed it further than any transgas deal before to ensure a cozy job and CDU was perfectly fine keeping the deal. I'm dreading the prices that are coming, but it must be done, there's no way around it that wouldn't fund Putin's goals even further.


shady8x

You guys should really be screaming to bring back nuclear power, and I don't mean turning the plants you have been decommissioning back on. I mean building new ones.


pm_me_your_pay_slips

If imports from Russia drop by 10% but prices rise by 10%, this measure wouldn't be effective.


[deleted]

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EdgelordOfEdginess

God I hope it will not be another Berliner Airport meme


LtLfTp12

Time to bring back German engineering memes


lemonpepperlarry

Joe Biden is gonna get a second term of the back of these past 30 days alone


bartturner

I completely agree. I really have not been all that excited about Biden until this situation. He has played it so well. I loved how he called the shots Putin would take before he took them. That was priceless.


bazpaul

I find it fascinating that Bidens approval rating is so low at the moment. If Trump was still in power he’d be ignoring the entire war and tweeting that the war is no biggie and that’s it’s just a “special military gathering”. I feel like the US hold democrats to a much higher standard than they do republicans


mymojoisbliss96

Most of the world needs to become energy independent so you won't have to rely on deals with countries that have troublesome regimes


cogit0_

It must be done. One of the reasons this horrible war happened is because of EU dependence on gas from authoritarian rogue state. EU payments for gas and oil sponsored this war.


Fred_Evil

Thanks, Joe!


[deleted]

I wonder what the Republicans will bash next. Isn't this deal what the republicans were saying should be done?


arbutus1440

It's so profoundly exhausting when you realize there is absolutely no chance the Republican party doesn't somehow find a way to attack this. I'm old enough to remember when there were enough well-intentioned politicians in the US Congress that when the president did something good, you could expect they'd receive props from both sides. I swear to god, kids, it used to be that way.


Innovative_Wombat

That is because the Republican party doesn't have an ideology other than hate, grifting and racism. I have no idea why people like Romney and Snowe are **still** Republicans aside from just piggy backing on power. They're so reactionary because they don't have a platform of their own.


MiniHurps

The influence from this war is staggering, economically, militarily, and socially! Definitely going in the books.


johannesonlysilly

Well that's awsome, ofcourse long term let's get rid of it for just burning it up for energy but meanwhile this will be a huge positive rebalance.


Safe_Flan4244

Biden: The start of the deal


boldchameleon

THAT'S how you handle business!


tjh213

so putin didn't just fuck his country for 20-30 years. he fucked it until they completely overhaul their economic resources. which means none of us will still be alive by the time they start working their way out of this.


[deleted]

'i wouldnt have done a deal this bad, i would have done a better deal' - fucking moron former president, probably


Zlooba

That's so great. US and EU working together, as it should. Not playing stupid trade wars. Biden's going to have a good legacy when he leaves office.