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US Energy Diplomacy Under Trump Administration
Countries are attempting to decode and respond to the new style of foreign policy
even though it is difficult to do so. Various signs regarding what is more important
and what to be careful about to proceed can be inferred from the patterns that have
started to appear. First of all, domestic politics has a place of priority among the
triggers of the Trump administration, and, thus, initiates and directs actions (https://
www.csis.org/analysis/energy-era-frenemy-foreign-policy 2018). Looking into the
more distant future, it is more probable that leadership in the international arena will
be acquired by means of delivering renewables effectively and efficiently; providing
fossil fuels, which pollute the climate, will be futile in this respect. Thus, whoever
is seeking a prestigious stance would avoid saying at Davos or any other place that
they are delighted to have “a substantial ability to deliver the people of the globe a
better quality of life through fossil fuels.” The transformation of foreign policy in
the US will be achieved by means of energy revolution. The energy secretary claims
that Dan Brouillette had the argument that the growth in US energy production
came after “a long struggle between innovation and regulation,” yet currently,
“innovation is winning the day” since innovation has become the key element in the
US energy policy under Trump administration. Brouillette attributed the United
States’ success in becoming both “the world’s largest producer of both oil and natural gas,” and “the world’s second-largest generator of wind and solar power” to new
technology and more flexible regulations (https://www.thenation.com/article/
archive/donald-trumps-extract-everything-energy-policy-dooms-us-all/ 2018).
The energy secretary continued to say that the focus of the US is on “reviving
two of the world’s most reliable 24/7 generators of electricity—nuclear [energy]
and coal.” Based on the claims made by Dan Brouillette, the Trump administration
would be funding the Coal FIRST initiative with a research and development funding of $64 million. Brouillette claimed that this funding would “help … produce
more coal-based power more efficiently and transform it into a near-zero-emissions
energy source for not only … [the US], but the rest of the world.” Brouillette
acknowledged the concerns raised regarding the dependence on carbon-intensive
coal to produce electricity, while the world is seeking ways to decrease carbon
emissions. However, he argued that cleaner and more efficient methods of using
coal for the generation of electric power would be sought and put into effect. He
referred to developing countries’ dependence on coal and stated, “if we are going to
see that product used to generate electricity, we want it to be used as cleanly as possible.” Brouillette continued to reassure how to downsize coal plants, yet with a
higher efficiency, would be the focal point of research. In addition, how to integrate
more carbon capture and storage technology would also be investigated, according
to Brouillette, who supported this claim by referring to an announcement made by
the Trump administration on 5th February that $125.5 million would be allocated
for research on solar technology (https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/donald-trumps-extract-everything-energy-policy-dooms-us-all/ 2018).
6 Trump Energy Diplomacy
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