Trump’s quest for ‘energy dominance’ is all about the vibes

When President Donald Trump signed an executive order announced.National Energy EmergencyHours after his position was divided, there was a clear thing that is missing from his definition of energy. It consisted of a list of petroleum products, with nuclear gestures, biofuels, ground thermal heat and hydroelectric energy. There was no male of wind or solar energy, The fastest energy sources in the United States.

The omission begins logically when you think about the Trump stadium, “making America great again.” In his opening speech on January 20, Trump was full of nostalgia for a graphic era, in which the solar panels and wind turbines were not yet present. “America will be a manufacturer again,” he said. “We will be a rich nation again, which is that liquid gold under our feet will help do so.”

Trump’s intravenous speech, which works in the depth of American culture, such as coal mines that fed the country’s industrial rise. It may not be a coincidence that the way he talks about energy, with another Executive order On the opening day, it aims to “unleash energy dominance”, the muscles are shown. In fact, this type of chest reaction to the industrial decline and climate change has a name: “Male petro”

“It is part of this nostalgia for the past, as America was mired in California oil, Davis. Trump and Vice President JD Vance have been exposed to how America changed – Wind turbinesand “Cat women without children” In power sites, “Diversity, fairness and inclusion” Programs – interact with an invitation to return to the perfect version of how to use things.

The phrase “energy dominance” created a mystery for people trying to understand it as a realistic political goal. “There is no clear definition, and this is the problem immediately,” said Emma Ashord, an older colleague at the Stimson Center, a research center in foreign affairs. The United States is already the largest oil producer in the world, with Production reaches its highest level ever Last year under the leadership of former President Joe Biden. There are a lot of supplies with hundreds of oil rental contracts Sitting is not used in the Gulf of Mexico.

“I strongly think that what people think of Trump when they say” energy dominance “is that they want to be in a position in which American energy allows them to dictate global markets or other countries.” As examples, Trump indicated that Biden stopped granting permits to export liquefied natural gas and his recent threats to put a customs tariff on Canada and Mexico.

This focus on the leverage is in line with the definition of its proposal Energy Security Expert Joseph Magkot: “A strong economic and geopolitical hand contract by producing high -value energy resources and using them strategically to secure local energy needs and push the impact on global markets.” Noah Kaufman, an economist at the University of Colombia, considered dangerous definitions like Magkot, but he believed that the phrase “energy dominance” has many cultural societies that cannot be captured by a simple definition. “I went back to the belief that this is really related to feelings,” Kovman said.

Trump began talking about “energy dominance” During his 2016 presidential campaignBesides the wish for coal. “This language has this courage and micoceful for its movement,” said Kara Dajjet, a professor of political science at Virginia University of Technology. “This is about the performance of power in a world that feels out of control increasingly.” Daggett first defined the relationship between Trump’s anti -feminine speech and pro -oils in 2018, when she proposed theory of theory “Petro Male” To describe, in part, how the increasing authoritarian movements call fossil to attract men who feel the back.

If there is anything, then this anxiety has become more clear since then, Miller said, “With all these billionaires such as Elon Musk and Zuckerberg from falling on Trump’s echo of sex and energy.” In January, META CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, expressed his regret that corporate culture was moving away from “male energy” Podcast Joe RoganSaying that it would be good to have “a culture, such as, celebrate the aggression a little more.”

Fossil fuels have been linked to romantic ideas about deep hard work since the industrial revolution at least. Many countries A ban against underground women working in minesMiller said that, like a British law of 1842, giving the profession “very sexual quality” was distinguished from other industrial jobs. When observing coal miners at work in 1937, author George Orwell He wrote it was impossible To see them “without feeling envy for their hardness”, comparing workers with “iron statues”.

Starting with discovery The flowing heater that led to the Texas Oil boom In 1901, fossil fuels gained another sign – bringing “not only profit, but freedom and a kind of vibrant creativity of the world,” according to Stephanie Laoranjer, an English professor at the University of Oregon who wrote A book on the cultural resonance of oil. But the feeling of optimism inspired by cheap oil – associated with Freedom of leadership About cars in cars – began to collapse in 1969. that year, the huge oil spill left in Santa Barbara beaches full of thousands of killer and crude birds, making the damage caused by oil extraction more clear. Shortly later, the 1973 oil crisis was sent Climbing stable gasoline prices once.

LEMENAGER uses the floor “Petro-Mellancholia” To describe this sadness for the dream of what oil has promised. “I think Trump is really good to take advantage of the cultural subconscious, at least some Americans,” she said. “My feeling is that” energy dominance “intentionally a mysterious term aimed at raising a group of feelings.”

There may also be a remaining feeling that the United States does not have enough local fuel, which was printed during the 1973 crisis when OPEC has banned oil exports to the United States because of its support for Israel in the Yom Kippur War. Quad gas pricesPeople waited to fill their cars in lines wrapped around the mass.

“Everyone has been talking about” energy independence “since the era of Jimmy Carter,” said Travis Fisher, director of political studies for environmental policy at the Tank Kato Institute. He said that these terms have come out now, along with feeling the isolation she supported. For Fisher, “energy dominance” transmits the message: “We should not only seek to provide ourselves. We must provide the world.”

Daggett argues that the way this right has responded to climate change – with the challenge – reflects a more realistic understanding of what might require him to abandon fossil fuels than many on the left ready.

“If you already understand the size of the climate crisis, this is a threat to the ways of life that distinguishes one version of the American dream – suburbs, relying on cars, and collective consumption,” said Dagit. “To respond to this is that you have to develop new ways of life, and new ways to organize ourselves. The truth, to some extent, has realized the existential nature of the climate crisis, and therefore the reaction is really strong. The response is to say, no, I refuse to do so. I refuse. I have to change this way of life.

Even if the Americans are not anywhere about to abandon their cars, Lemenager has seen hints that people could adopt new possibilities instead of falling into the trap of petro masculinity. Last year, an electric car drove across the country and met people at charging stations along the road, some of whom suspected Trump voters. A man said to her, “We live in such a wonderful time.” I waited to see what it means, and continued, “It seems as if we were at the dawn of the twentieth century, and we see a transition to energy.”

For leminager, it was a sign that people could be excited to move forward – even those who may not be excited about the idea of ​​a new green deal.