WSJ: Iran War Proves Fossil Fuel Critics Wrong

For years, progressives have tried to curb fossil fuels in the US, and the conservative editorial page of the Wall Street Journal argues that the Iran war has proved them wrong. With Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz choking off roughly a fifth of global supply, the International Energy Agency is tapping a record 400 million barrels from member reserves. But the editorial notes that millions of barrels of US crude exports also are flowing daily to Europe and Asia and have become just as critical in cushioning allies from Middle East and Russian disruptions.

That role exists, the editors say, because Congress scrapped a 40-year-old US export ban in 2015, a deal steered by then-House Speaker Paul Ryan and signed by President Obama. As a result, the US has become a net exporter of oil, with crude exports up nearly tenfold to 4 million barrels a day, reducing allies' dependence on Russia and OPEC. "The war in Iran is another reminder that US oil and gas is a strategic asset," the editors write. "The left's siren calls to unilaterally disarm would empower America's adversaries." Read the full editorial.