OPINION:
“Ontario’s premier: Canada should be ready to cut electricity, critical minerals as trade woes worsen ” (Web, Aug. 24) should be read as more than another escalation in a trade dispute.
It is a warning about the leverage America surrenders when it depends on foreign governments for essential energy and strategic resources.
Canada is a close ally. But even allies remain sovereign nations with their own political interests and domestic pressures. When friendly relationships become contentious, energy resources can quickly become bargaining chips.
America should produce enough reliable electricity to keep its own lights on. We should mine and process more critical minerals here at home, expand the infrastructure needed to transmit American electricity and reduce our dependence on any foreign government for essential resources.
Healthy trade strengthens nations. Dependence weakens them.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has unintentionally reminded Americans that energy independence is not merely an economic goal. It is a national security imperative.
SAM ROMAIN
Chairman, Americans for Energy Dominance
Lakeland, Florida
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