What’s the similarity between the armed conflicts in Iraq, Syria, and Ukraine?

No worries, we are not going to take a deep dive into history. It’s actually quite simple and can be explained easily.

The easiest way to prevent wars is to invest in renewable energies. The Green New Deal is not only a great strategy to deal with climate change; it’s also a way to secure peace and prosperity.

Let me explain.

The main reason for the war in Iraq was oil. Of course, the official narrative was about human rights, but it’s hard to believe that the huge oil fields in Iraq had nothing to do with it. The war in Syria is not much different when it comes to that. And now: Ukraine.

While I am worried about a further escalation between the United States and Russia, global markets are mainly worried about the oil price at the moment. Germany depending on Russian gas makes it hard for the European Union to fully support Ukraine against Russian aggression.

Let’s imagine American and European politicians would have focussed on renewable energies decades ago. Let’s imagine they listened to all of us hippies who wanted to fight climate change before it was too late?

Seriously, it’s hard for me to understand why we created this situation that could have been avoided easily. And it makes everyone who spoke up against renewables look pretty stupid.

Do you remember when Donald Trump warned us about the devastating effects of windmills? Conservatives in Germany argue the same way. They are worried about the landscape and pretend to care about birds that might fly into these windmills (Spoiler alert: birds are not that stupid).

It might be true that a windmill or fields of solar panels are not always pretty, but still better than fighting wars in several countries, right?

And that’s my main point: renewable energies aren’t perfect (yet). But there are more than enough reasons to invest more money into these technologies. Marjorie Taylor Greene calls the Green New Deal a communist manifesto, which is a ridiculous statement on so many levels.

In fact, renewable energies are the only way to reduce our thirst for oil. Let’s not forget that we consume all that energy that causes wars all over the planet.

Keep the heat a few degrees lower. Wear a sweater instead of a t-shirt. Spending my first winter in Canada, I am surprised at the excessive heating wastage. #ClimateCrisis #ecofriendly #ecotip #ClimateEmergency #mindfullness

— Sukriti Chhopra (@SukritiChhopra) January 26, 2022

Our need for oil is what makes us dependent on the goodwill of Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Europe’s need for gas created this situation Russia is trying to use to blackmail NATO.

I already hear some of my Conservative American friends shout, “Let’s do fracking instead!”

Fracking and oil drilling in the ocean don’t solve any of our problems with climate change. They might reduce our dependency on foreign fossil fuels, but that’s about it.

So, why don’t we solve the two biggest problems of our time (human rights and climate change) by doing the right thing? Why don’t we put all our efforts into making renewable energy more efficient? It’s literally the only way out.

And that brings us to the next question, “Why are so many Republicans against the Green New Deal?”

Maybe the answer is that these folks make huge profits because of the status quo. Ask Ted Cruz, Tucker Carlson, or Charles Koch. We could also ask Joe Manchin why he opposed the infrastructure bill—the answer is money.

As long as we depend on fossil fuels, there will be wars about natural resources. Whether we like it or not.

Renewable energies not only save the climate—they might also prevent World War III.

What are we waiting for?