There it was on the front page of Saturday’s New York Times: with a small assist from the United States, the island nation of Cuba has almost entirely ended the use of fossil fuels. Finally, we have the first country in the world to achieve the climate movement’s Holy Grail and nirvana — Net Zero! Or at least a very close approximation. This should be cause for a huge celebration.
You would think that the Times, which has been demanding the elimination of fossil fuels for at least a couple of decades, would be leading the celebrations. But weirdly, now that Cuba has finally shown the way, the Times chooses to put a completely different spin on the achievement. The headline and subheadline are (print edition): “U.S. Choking Oil Deliveries To Cuba Ports; Military Action Brings a Nation to Its Knees.”
The piece reports that the Trump administration is helping Cuba to achieve Net Zero by preventing oil tankers from landing there. Somehow in this piece, that is spun as a bad thing. It has brought Cuba “to its knees.”
The funny thing is that here in the U.S., it was just over a year ago that we had President Biden and an administration full of zealous environmentalists who were using every governmental power at their disposal to force Americans to stop using fossil fuels. By Executive Order 14057 of December 8, 2021, Biden had directed all federal agencies to pursue an aggressive “all of government” operation to achieve “net zero” on an accelerated schedule. Goals number 1 and 2 from that EO are “100 percent carbon pollution-free electricity on a net annual basis by 2030,” and “100 percent zero-emission vehicle acquisitions by 2035.” In 2023, the Department of Transportation released a “Blueprint” for eliminating all carbon emissions from the transportation sector. In 2024 EPA released a plan to eliminate fossil fuels from electricity generation. Similar initiatives were everywhere in the government.
Did the Times ever suggest that government forcing an end to the use of fossil fuels was “bringing America to its knees”? Or even that forcing the end of fossil fuels was any sort of a problem? If they ever suggested anything like that, I never saw it. What I saw instead was that the Times was the biggest cheerleader for the use of government coercion to suppress the use of fossil fuels, at least if the use was by Americans.
And yet, if you believe yesterday’s article, the banishment of fossil fuels, which was to be such a boon to the United States, is somehow a problem in Cuba. From the Times article:
In Cuba, people are struggling with frequent blackouts, shortages of gasoline and cooking gas and dwindling supplies of diesel that power the nation’s water pumps. Trash is piling up, food prices are soaring, schools are canceling classes and hospitals are suspending surgeries.
What am I missing? Since when are fuels like oil, gasoline, natural gas, and diesel any longer necessary, or even useful or economic, for providing energy to the people? The Times for years has been pounding a relentless drumbeat emphasizing that wind and solar are now the cheapest ways to produce energy, and all sane people are flocking to them as the best sources. For example, from August 17, 2023:
As the planet registers the highest temperatures on record, rising in some places to levels incompatible with human life, governments around the world are pouring trillions of dollars into clean energy to cut the carbon pollution that is broiling the planet. The cost of generating electricity from the sun and wind is falling fast and in many areas is now cheaper than gas, oil or coal. Private investment is flooding into companies that are jockeying for advantage in emerging green industries.
In other words, to eliminate use of fossil fuels all Cuba would have to do would be to slap up a few wind turbines and solar panels, and then it could run its economy on the abundant renewable electricity without need for any of those icky fossil fuels. And saving money too! Cuba actually has a bunch of wind farms. Why doesn’t it just crank them up to provide the power formerly supplied by the fossil fuels?
It seems like the people who are writing these pieces for the Times don’t read their own newspaper.
Meanwhile, let me be the first to congratulate the people of Cuba on being the first to achieve Net Zero
Ridicule can be a bit brutal at times.
But it is the most effective way to publicly highlight abject stupidity and hypocrisy.
Keep it coming, Francis.
The top photo of Communist Havana, Cuba, looks like it is totally impoverished. What a difference with free enterprise Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong, etc.
That is exactly what the impossibly-expensive, Net-Zero hoax will do to any country.
The same reason, dysfunctional France, the UK, Germany, Spain, etc., have become the poster children of a basket case.
For them to spend 3.5% on the military and 1.5% for infrastructures to facilitate movement of the military to front lines, is an impossible burden on top of expensive wind, solar, etc., idiocies, plus expensively supporting tens of millions of civilization-destroying, walk-ins, fly-ins, float-ins, from all over the Third World, plus having major industries moving elsewhere, because of extremely high energy, electricity and materials prices. Sayonara, Europe!
No wonder Europe’s elites want to exhaust Russia to get at its vast resources, while consuming Ukraine’s population and mercenaries to the max, all goosed up by a tinhorn comedian Mr Z.
We’ve always been at war with Eastasia or is that Eurasia?
I’m going to ask Winston.
You have always been at war with everyone else on the planet since Cromwell killed the king and the kingdom became an East India Company franchise with so much power that the EOC collected the taxes in India and not the british occupiers (some claim the same trick wa used later on with IRS).
Then the franchise switched to America including its Flag(Continental Union Flag)
and the war machine went with them,
blessing the world with war after war after war,
especially in South America,
installing dictator after dictator.
But SA turned out to be too small so Japan was attacked with the black boats to force them to open up their markets
Then Phillipines declared independence, US East India Company said FU – we control your country.
Nowadays It’s the oil of Venezuela and the revenues of Iraq,that, after the liberation, is being controlled by – NY FED.
And endless story of wars,provocations, sanctions,forced regime changes, paid terrorists and protesters and always being the good guys(now that’s a 1:1 quadrillion lucky streak) , while talking shit about freedom, independence, free markets and other fairy tales – because one things for sure: the population never learns.
So where are the nirvanas? Not everything is controlled by the US. Putin does his own thing. Or perhaps you mean the paradise of North Korea where children are executed for watching Squid Game? I’ll take my chances with the US thanks. Capitalism has delivered more people out of poverty than any other form of government people have developed.
The British Empire never left the field it just redefined methods and application while controlling most of the world up to today. Trump is working to end that.
The idea that the British Empire still exists and controls most of the World is is utterly fatuous. Flat Earth and Apollo Moon Landing hoax conspiracies are more plausible.
Humans have been at war since their ancestors came out of the trees. And, actually, before that. Territoriality is an animal instinct. But turning this into anti Americanism is foolish. Do a deep dive into history instead of ranting while ignoring the same behavior everywhere and at all times with all peoples.
Don’t sugar coat it like that.
Tell us how you really feel.
What on Earth are you talking about?
I have read your post several times and all I get is some confected outrage.
Seriously Cromwell, then off to South America?
Drivel.
Eurasia is the combined Europe/Asia continent. S/E Asia is the non Russian/Arab portion
It sounds more like Fantasia.
Reading the responses: are there really that many not getting the reference?
No, the actual goal was to eliminate fossil fuel use by non-communist countries. China and Cuba are exempt.
I also observe that Russia is using a large amount of fossil fuels in pursuing its war with Ukraine.
And Ukraine is doing its best to destroy Russia’s oil and gas industries.
Fossil fuel is out of the Trans-Reality Alarmist lexicon.
Hydrocarbons and coal or even simply carbon fuels.
If indeed Cuba was the first country to reach “Net Zero”, I wryly note that they achieved that record despite having a gas-guzzling fleet of ICE automobiles with an average age over 30 years!
This directly from Google’s AI bot:
“The average age of automobiles in Cuba is estimated to be over 30 years, with many vehicles in operation for 60 years or more. While over 60,000, or a significant portion, are classic 1940s/50s American cars, the fleet also includes 1970s/80s Russian Ladas and newer Chinese/European models.
Key Details Regarding Cuban Automobiles:
Decades of Use: Many cars have been running as daily drivers for over 60 years.
Evolution of the Fleet: The fleet consists of a mix of pre-1959 American cars, Soviet-era cars (Lada, Moskvitch), and more recent, limited imports.
Maintenance & Innovation: Due to the U.S. embargo and lack of parts, owners use immense ingenuity to keep these vehicles running.
Ownership & Usage: Many of these vehicles are family heirlooms or used as taxis.”
q: why do Ladas have heated rear windscreens?
a: so that passengers pushing them don’t get frozen hands.
What do you call a Skoda with two exhaust pipes?
A wheelbarrow.
A friend of mine is a Guatemalan immigrant, whose parents had moved (fled) to Guatemala to escape communist Cuba. She still had family in Cuba, and when Obama eased travel restrictions to allow Americans to visit relatives there, she set up a trip. The story she told me upon her return was unforgettable. There was a special Boeing 737 set up for flights to Cuba, modified to carry significantly more baggage per passenger than U.S. airlines normally allow. That was because Americans visiting Cuban family members were encouraged to bring in goods that Cubans can’t get. A partial list is: toothbrushes and toothpaste, bandaids, bandage cloth, analgesics (aspirin, Tylenol, Advil), hydrogen peroxide, rubbing alcohol, cotton swabs, suture needles and thread, dental floss, etc. All for people in a country with the best health care system in the world. The only car she was able to rent was built in the 1950s. Her relatives lived in what Cubans consider a middle class neighborhood. Their houses shared one common feature: none of the windows had glass in them. After (at that time) 55 years of communist rule, severe weather had taken its toll on homes, including their windows, and there was no glass available to replace them. The focus on dental supplies, by the way, is largely due to the fact that Cubans have one great source of pleasure that even the communists haven’t been able to destroy: sugar canes. Cubans consume a great deal of the stuff; as my friend related, “it’s in everything, almost overwhelmingly. They chew on the raw cane when they aren’t drinking it coffee saturated with it.” There was some good news at the end of her story, in that most of the family were ultimately able to leave Cuba for the United States.
This reminds me of a French eco-leftist journalist who was gushing over the fact that Cubans used traditional farming methods, “far from Western productivism.” It’s so extraordinary that she should spend a year or two there to report back to us. When she returned home, with her back broken, her knees in shreds, her skin thickened and tanned by the sun, possibly having caught dengue after being devoured by mosquitoes—or cholera, if really unlucky—we should ask her if she had a nice vacation there.
All of the “intellectuals” I know that yearn for a “workers’ paradise”, have NEVER done any of that type of brutally hard work.
Why did Bernie Sanders, and other such Communists, not retire there?
Bernie did honeymoon in the Soviet Union. Today he rails against billionaires. He used to rail against millionaires, until he inexplicably became one.
I’ve heard he doesn’t like to discuss his millionaire status. 🙂
Doesn’t he own several homes? Probably a few in plush areas.
Or the one who was praising how “eco-friendly” they were in an African village for cooking with dung.
These views are appallingly brazenly stupid.
Amazing essay.
Since the idea is to ration everything using some CO2 metric, let’s just have a look at what the carbon dioxide emissions are from
I am going to have to fix that– 4.5m x 4.5m prison cell, or 45 sq ft prison cell.
Some years ago I was comparing the size of a prison cell (45 sq ft), an RV or travel trailer (216 sq ft), and a “tiny home” (400 sq ft). Those were my units, sorry.
The “tiny house” advocates and enthusiasts often, though not always, mention “sustainable living.” They usually manage to endure it for about 2 years.
Starving a country of energy shouldn’t be applauded. It goes beyond transportation when the food supply is threatened as well. Especially a country that the people have no say in their government. The people won’t blame their government, they’ll blame the source of their starvation. It’s a bully tactic. The people will remember.
The people might be conditioned but they are not dumb. They are well aware how their government- in which they have little or no say- constrains their lives in countless ways. They are subjects, not participanting citizens.
The U.S. has pledged food aid to Cuba if delivered directly to people without intervention from the communists. This can be accomplished, usually, through local Catholic parishes. One report claims $6 million recently sent. True or not?
Population of Cuba is approximately 10,912,700, so at $3 per person per day [multiply by x and carry the digit etc] means they need about $32.7 Million per day.
With population of ca. 11 million, the people of Cuba are exhaling ca. 11 million kg of CO2 everyday. To this should be added all the CO2 exhaled by domestic animals ranging from cattle to canaries. Net zero is impossible.
Nature knows, Net Zero is suicidal, because more CO2 ppm increases flora and fauna, reduces desert areas, and increases crop yields per acre to better feed 8 billion people.
Every politician knows this, but it is not about CO2. It is about:
1) further enriching the elites to give them more power and influence, and
2) further empowering the encrusted bureaucracy to increase its command/control over others, and
3) brainwashing/scare-monger/impoverishing the uninformed/befuddled general public, using the huge foghorn of the quasi-government-controlled corporate Mass Media.
The dysfunctional UK, once a great power, has become the poster child of that culture-demolishing disease.
Interesting.
Canada has promised to send Cuba $8 million in food aid.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ottawa-funding-cuba-9.7105223
They plan to route the $8mill via the UN.
Who will probably then on-route the $8m to some favored “humanitarian” not for profit charity organization to administer & deliver.
Which means the ordinary Cubans will get to share maybe ~ $2mill in food stamps between them all.
Gonna be some muchachos going hungry in Cuba for a bit.
Especially if your figures are anywhere near the real situation, John, the muchachos might have sell off their Che Guevara t-shirts.
No one is applauding that the Cubans are suffering.
The ridicule was exactly directed at the New York Times.
It wasn’t done voluntarily, so points are deducted for that. Still, they deserve a round of applause, and The Planet especially, thanks them for their service.
The beatings will continue until moral improves.
The insanities will continue until sufficient damage is inflicted.
“morale”
Thank you. Typos R US.
USA offered Spain $100 million for Cuba in about 1850.
Seems about right even in today’s money.
Very nice Francis. I suggest we start accepting nominations for a city in the US to expand this experiment.
I’ll nominate Minneapolis.
Minneapolis? That’s West Somalia isn’t it???
We’re always been told how cheap wind and solar are. Both to build and operate.
Why should they have ever needed those evil fossil fuels.
There is that inconvenient truth – you can’t build, transport, erect, maintain or dispose of wind turbines or solar panels without COAL, OIL, AND GAS.
Wind and solar are just a waste of resources and landfill space.
(Just in case lurkers didn’t appreciate your sarcasm)
In Cuba the Net Zero seems to be spreading right across the island: no energy, no money, limited economic opportunities, food shortages, not much of anything and no other countries available to bail it out. If all countries achieve this goal they’ll all be up the same creek with no chances of recoveries. As the Russians say, Net Zero? Nyet !
WOW
Net Zero Cuba
Congratulations Cubans!!
Hoy Felicidades Cuba!!!
Nett Zero Action Brings any Nation to Its Knees.”
Cuba has become the paradise that Fidel always envisioned….and 7,000 Cubans will miss it – they are going or have gone to Ukraine.
Clarification? They went to Ukraine to be part of Ukraine or did they go to Ukraine to be part of the Russian army?
Putin probably told them that military training awaited them…he has suckered in Africans and N. Koreans and other foreigners to become casualties in his huge military blunder.
Nice!