EUROPE - Subsidies to Ease Energy Prices

Countries around the world have intervened to limit the economic impact of diminished energy supplies and soaring fuel prices since the start of the Iran war, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Seven of the 10 nations working most actively to contain the economic damage are in the European Union, the OECD said in a report.

“It’s a cruel irony that the U.S. is the least vulnerable to a crisis of its own making, while Europe’s economy again takes the hit,” said Antony Froggatt, an analyst at the European advocacy organization Transport & Environment.

EU leaders in Brussels gave member nations temporary discretion to provide state aid to households and energy-intensive industries like agriculture, transportation and fishing.

France has adopted an expanding array of targeted measures to cushion consumers and fuel-intensive businesses from higher prices.

Brussels is lobbying Washington to drop the idea of suspending overseas diesel sales.

“We believe this is a bad idea,” European Commission spokesperson Olof Gill said Thursday. “EU-U.S. cooperation in the field of energy is strong, stable and mutually beneficial. Any disruption would risk negatively impacting both sides.”

-apnews.com, 25 September 2026

Commentary: The evidence is overwhelming that we live in a global society. Energy is the key to the game. With much of Russia’s abundance of oil and natural gas under suspension, Europe is looking to the West—America (North and South)—to make up for the lack of energy from the world’s largest country.

From Biblical perspectives, the contours are being identified: Global energy equals global merchandise. For that to work without interference and hindrance, the world will and must become one.

(See The End of the World … Not Yet? Item #1101, $19.)