Ben Shapiro: Oil crisis amid coronavirus – for AOC and the left, it's just another political opportunity

Fox News ^ | April 23 2020 | Ben Shapiro

[knighthawk]

The price of oil futures has collapsed catastrophically. In fact, the prices collapsed into negative territory in the near term. This bizarre situation, prompted by lack of consumer demand and lack of storage facility, led the irrepressible Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., to tweet: "You absolutely love to see it. This along with record low-interest rates means it's the right time for a worker-led, mass investment in green infrastructure to save our planet."

This tweet was too dumb even for her – an extraordinary bar, given her past commentary – and she deleted it. But she then reiterated the point in a follow-up tweet, characterizing the rock-bottom oil prices as a "key opportunity" to "create millions of jobs transitioning to renewable and clean energy."

Needless to say, investing in expensive green energy at a time when oil producers cannot simply give away oil is peak stupidity. But the Boston University economics major's faux pas merely underscores an uncomfortable truth regarding this pandemic and its aftermath: For the most partisan, every crisis is an opportunity to push political priors.

[Fiddlstix]

[Redwood71]

This would be a perfect opportunity for the GOP to open up ANWR and the Rockies for oil production. We could cut our ties with Venezuela completely, possibly Mexico, and deal only with Canada for actual production. And they can be put on a short leash.

rwood