Fuel Shortage

"Analysis-Forget showering, it's eat or heat for shocked Europeans hit by energy crisis"

https://www.marketscreener.com/news...ked-Europeans-hit-by-energy-crisis--41614823/

"No more ironing, limited oven use and showering at work - Europeans are trying to keep their energy use down but the bills keep climbing.

"As wholesale gas and electricity prices surge, millions of people in Europe are now spending a record amount of their income on energy, data show.

"In the east England town of Grimsby, Philip Keetley didn't turn on his cooling fan at home as Britain sweltered under a record heat-wave this summer.

"A look at his bank account showed he couldn't afford to.

"The benchmark European gas price has soared 550% in the past 12 months. The cost of energy for British consumers will rise by 80% from October, regulator Ofgem said on Friday, taking average annual household bills to 3,549 pounds ($4,188).

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ENERGY RATIONING BEGINS: Germany implementing energy rationing program amid fears of gas shortages and riots

https://newstarget.com/2022-08-28-germany-energy-rationing-fears-gas-shortages-riots.html

"Germany is now implementing strict energy rationing as the country tries to avoid severe energy shortages this winter.

"German officials are hoping that renewed and harsher rationing efforts will help reduce the risk of energy shortages as Europe’s energy disputes with Russia appear to have no end. Many ministers are also very concerned about the possibility of heightened public unrest and gas riots should people be left unable to heat their homes. (Related: Europe’s natural gas prices shoot up to record highs as Gazprom announces another pipeline shutdown.)

"The country’s natural gas storage capacity is 67 percent full, making it slightly ahead of its target to fill its stores by 65 percent before Sept. 1. The main objective is to fill gas stores up to 95 percent capacity by Nov. 1, a goal that will prove to be very difficult to achieve.

"By Sept. 1, German policies imposing limits on how warm public buildings and offices can be will go into effect. These places will be legally restricted to temperatures of no higher than 19 degrees Celsius (66.2 degrees Fahrenheit).

"Public buildings will also no longer be allowed to keep their hallways heated, with exceptions for critical institutions like hospitals. The government is also banning heating tap water for washing hands using boilers or instant heating devices.

"The government is also overriding contract clauses mandating that landlords keep their properties heated to a certain level to ensure the well-being of their tenants. These clauses are to be suspended for six months, with government ministers claiming that this will allow renters who are willing to voluntarily turn down their thermostats to do so."
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"Did The U.S. Provoke Russia Into Invading The Ukraine To Sabotage Nord Stream 2?"

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2022...ussia-invading-ukraine-sabotage-nord-stream-2

"There’s a fair amount of evidence that the U.S. (or let’s say ‘elements within the U.S. foreign policy establishment’) actually wanted Russia to invade Ukraine because they thought it was in America’s strategic interests.

"Since the Maidan uprising in late 2013, the U.S. has taken an intense interest in Ukraine, and many of the decisions it has made seem almost designed to provoke Russia. This is not to say they definitely were – which is a matter for debate – only that it’s hard to explain why else the U.S. would have made them.

"American officials publicly backed the ‘Revolution of Dignity’ in 2014, which saw the replacement of Ukraine’s pro-Russian government with one made up of pro-Western nationalists. They even helped the Maidan ‘revolutionaries’ behind the scenes, though to exactly what extent is not clear.

"When you think about it, this is extremely provocative. Imagine if Chinese officials travelled to Canada, and publicly backed a protest movement seeking to replace Canada’s government with a pro-Chinese one. Americans would be outraged.

"After Ukraine’s president was toppled, the U.S. had significant sway over the new regime. As the most powerful Western country, it could have said, ‘We will not recognise your government unless you do X, Y and Z.’ Despite this, the U.S. allowed almost a quarter of cabinet positions to go to the far-right Svoboda party – a party the EU had previously denounced as “racist, anti-Semitic and xenophobic”.

"Svoboda is not merely far-right, but specifically anti-Russian: the party’s leader once railed against the “Moscow-Jewish mafia ruling Ukraine”. How hard would it have been for the U.S. to say, ‘We will recognise your government so long as no cabinet positions go to the far-right’? But they made no such demand. In fact, U.S. politicians were pictured smiling and shaking hands with Svoboda’s leader – a man who, in any other context, they would have surely decried."
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