(The Guardian) Donald Trump’s war on Iran has triggered shocks in fossil fuel markets, exposing the perils of an agenda that prioritizes “drill, baby, drill” while sabotaging renewable power and energy efficiency in the US, experts and advocates say.
The US-Israeli war on Iran has already led to hundreds of deaths, created an ecological crisis linked to strikes on oil depots and sent fossil fuel prices haywire across the globe.
Critics say the war also shows the inherent instability of dependence on oil and gas: unlike wind and solar power, fossil fuel-based energy requires constant inputs of products whose availability and costs are determined by the global market.
Since the strikes on Iran began late last month, oil prices soared past $100 a barrel to their highest price since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. They eventually dropped to $98 a barrel on Thursday. The spike has pushed up the cost of gasoline – in which crude oil is a key component – nationwide. And it has sparked concern about broader inflation, which is often triggered by higher crude prices.
The president this week dismissed concerns about surging prices, telling Reuters that if gas prices “rise, they rise”, and later writing on social media that oil spikes are a “very small price” to pay for US safety and that “ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY”. But on the campaign trail and in the White House, Trump repeatedly pledged to bring down the price of household electricity and gasoline by “unleashing” American fossil fuels and boosting energy “independence” and “dominance”.
It’s an “emperor has no clothes moment” for Trump’s pro-fossil fuel policies and claims to support the working class, said Collin Rees, US policy manager at the climate research and advocacy non-profit Oil Change International.
“Americans are seeing, in real time, the deep failings of Trump’s strategy,” he said. “We’re seeing that he’s not doing anything to provide energy stability or price stability.”
-Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/12/iran-war-trump-gas-price-promise
The US-Israeli war on Iran has already led to hundreds of deaths, created an ecological crisis linked to strikes on oil depots and sent fossil fuel prices haywire across the globe.
Critics say the war also shows the inherent instability of dependence on oil and gas: unlike wind and solar power, fossil fuel-based energy requires constant inputs of products whose availability and costs are determined by the global market.
Since the strikes on Iran began late last month, oil prices soared past $100 a barrel to their highest price since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. They eventually dropped to $98 a barrel on Thursday. The spike has pushed up the cost of gasoline – in which crude oil is a key component – nationwide. And it has sparked concern about broader inflation, which is often triggered by higher crude prices.
The president this week dismissed concerns about surging prices, telling Reuters that if gas prices “rise, they rise”, and later writing on social media that oil spikes are a “very small price” to pay for US safety and that “ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY”. But on the campaign trail and in the White House, Trump repeatedly pledged to bring down the price of household electricity and gasoline by “unleashing” American fossil fuels and boosting energy “independence” and “dominance”.
It’s an “emperor has no clothes moment” for Trump’s pro-fossil fuel policies and claims to support the working class, said Collin Rees, US policy manager at the climate research and advocacy non-profit Oil Change International.
“Americans are seeing, in real time, the deep failings of Trump’s strategy,” he said. “We’re seeing that he’s not doing anything to provide energy stability or price stability.”
-Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/12/iran-war-trump-gas-price-promise
