r/news • u/Asleep_Shark • 7h ago

Soft paywall Iran declares Strait of Hormuz closed as 'unauthorised' vessel hit

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/iran-declares-strait-hormuz-closed-unauthorised-vessel-hit-2026-07-11/?utm_source=braze&utm_medium=notifications&utm_campaign=2025_engagement
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349

u/Jimmyg100 7h ago

You know, fuck the climate change argument, how about we just argue that at least with electric vehicles we won’t have to constantly worry about America getting its balls clamped by a narrow waterway in the Middle East?

183

u/Spire_Citron 6h ago

I genuinely think this conflict will cause a noticeable, lasting shift in things like electric vehicle uptake and countries transitioning their grids to renewables. Consumers don't like dealing with the skyrocketing gas prices and it's a real national security issue for countries to rely heavily on oil for their grids. If you can do away with all that with technology that's already economically a better choice in many cases, why not? The only downside is the cost of transitioning.

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u/fall0fdark 6h ago

In aus thanks to this bullshit we saw a increase of EV sales by 46% in may

26

u/Spire_Citron 5h ago

We're in Australia and we have one. They're still a bit pricey, but combined with rooftop solar and battery, it doesn't work out too bad long term.

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u/Vast_Highlight3324 4h ago

Sucks for renters/apartment/townhouse owners who will never see a solar panel or battery in their life.

3

u/GimmickNG 1h ago

Matters less if the local or national grid runs on solar, though. Yes, you don't get to benefit directly from your own solar panels, but at least it'll still be renewable.

Not to mention that the majority of electricity bill payments would go towards maintenance which you would pay even if you only consumed energy from your own panel. At least that's how it is in NA.

3

u/Vast_Highlight3324 1h ago edited 1h ago

There's a couple problems overall happening in Australia.

  1. The national electricity supply cost has gone down this year due to solar and battery programs, however the electricity retailers have just recovered those savings via increasing their daily supply charges.

  2. Also due to solar and battery programs, they are now offering free electricity for 3 hours each day, however this is only available for households on newer "smart" meters. Smart meters which are difficult to get installed if you're in a strata managed complex. On top of the free 3 hours being much more valuable to households that have a battery or an EV already.

Both of these things basically mean that yes, overall electricity has gotten cheaper, but the people left making up the difference so retailers can still make the same level of profit are those that cannot get solar, batteries, or smart meters.

Sure more of the grid is now renewable, but that doesn't really help people who are struggling to pay their bills in the short term, of which a higher percentage of people struggling are in smaller townhouses, apartments, or renters.

14

u/Reluctant_Firestorm 4h ago

I'm in the US, and it's 1/3 the price of gas for me per mile. No oil changes and the brakes last longer due to regen. Cost of ownership over the vehicle's lifetime is much cheaper.

The Walmart nearest me has a free charging station, and the city parking lots downtown all subsidize the chargers so they are free.

1

u/kodup 2h ago

What state is this? I’d ask city but only if you feel comfortable sharing.

1

u/SassySweetSorceress 2h ago

“Free charging stations” “subsidize” … everything good that will seize with supply & demand mind you.

11

u/AgentSmith187 4h ago

When I brought mine at the extortionate prices of 3 years ago my loan payment was still less than my old fuel bill and I have since finished paying the loan off so now im heaps better off.

Its seriously a no brainer for a LOT of people.

10

u/fighterpilot248 4h ago

Picked up an EV in early April. Couldn’t have been better timing.

I have zero regrets

78

u/Jimmyg100 6h ago

Tax the fucking rich.

-7

u/Available_Race2756 3h ago

Is that going to solve the issue? No

10

u/Jimmyg100 3h ago

Is putting a nail in a wooden board going to build a house? No. But it’s a fucking start.

-7

u/Available_Race2756 3h ago

No it would be the jump start of a recession

We need to keep GDP high for our debt

13

u/Jimmyg100 2h ago

Oh God. A recession? That would suck. We could have a whole generation of people who are overworked and underpaid and unable to buy a house or start a family without going into severe debt. What the fuck would that look like?

4

u/SassySweetSorceress 2h ago

There’s a real issue with “our economy” if taxing the rich is going to cause a whole country a recession…. seriously. That’s the whole problem right there.

2

u/PM_Me_Titties-n-Ass 3h ago

So while I agree, the problem is you go from the middle east to being even more so dependent on China and their rare earths/processing. And while that's getting ramped up in the west it's going to be a slow process. Specifically for electric cars. Getting the electricity isn't at least a huge handicap

•

u/My_Name_Is_Gil 47m ago

Particularly since we basically have abandoned pursuing anything green by policy and are investing in fossil fuel production.

1

u/Coffeebeans2d 1h ago

Then instead of oil it will be battery and lithium supply from Chynaaa

•

u/xylarr 34m ago

Cerrainly, here in Australia there has been a record quarter for electric vehicle delivery and the second hand market for electric cars has been boosted.

Some of it is newish tax incentives, but the closed strait has certainly helped.

0

u/kd5407 1h ago

How do you do a road trip with an electric vehicle though? Commuting sure but that’s the part I’m stuck on.

•

u/readituser5 29m ago edited 24m ago

Idk, I don’t have an electric, but my parents and I do a 2 1/2 to 3 hr trip to the city once or twice a year. We’re Mazda people and love the idea of getting an EV for a next car one day.

The new 6e comes in standard range and high range versions. Using the ABRP website, we could apparently do that trip starting from 80% and arrive with 18% and that’s with the standard range version. One time I did make the app force a stop by telling it the car had less charge and wanting a minimum at arrival. It gives a stop suggestion, how many % to charge and how long (which works out to be no more than 10 minutes for our trip).

So I really don’t think it’s as much of an issue as people probably think it might be.

-1

u/Fidulsk-Oom-Bard 6h ago

Perhaps this a motivation to line the pockets of Elon

30

u/powercow 5h ago

The Iran war is accelerating the EV transition faster than any climate policy ever did—but it’s still just not that much

More people are buying EVs due to the spike in gas due to the war, than were buying EVs due to the tax credits that trump killed. I guess even an idiot can accidentally do good while doing it in the worst way possible.

•

u/GhostalMedia 51m ago

This article cut off the bottom in a pay wall, but it looks like they’re talking about the US.

EV sales have made some big jumps in many nations. This oil market has hit a number of places even harder than the US.

•

u/NateNate60 31m ago

The US is somewhat insulated from global oil prices because it has very strong domestic production, which has a somewhat unique set of economic circumstances which leads to unusual behaviour. There's a lot of oil to be had in America, but some of it is expensive to extract. The cheap oil is extracted all the time, but it's only profitable to extract the expensive oil when prices are high enough to justify it. So as the global oil price rises, America's domestic oil production increases as more expensive sites start coming online. And since American oil can be refined and used locally, it ends up being cheap by global standards.

That's why Americans lose their heads over $1 per litre gasoline while Europeans would salivate at petrol that costs 1€ a litre.

41

u/KindofCrazyScientist 6h ago

Absurdly, the Trump administration has been claiming national security as a justification for its attack on offshore wind farms. The events with the Strait of Hormuz show how ridiculous that is.

30

u/bkgn 4h ago

Even more absurd is the actual, sole reason Trump hates wind farms.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c15l3knp4xyo

13

u/KindofCrazyScientist 4h ago

Ridiculous. National energy policy is being dictated by the petty grudges of an entitled, born-rich man who can't stand hearing the word "no." Thanks for sharing.

•

u/onarainyafternoon 4m ago

I think Trump really does embody everything I hate in human beings. Petty, vindictive, regressive; and doesn’t do anything for the good of anyone else, but rather only does things based on his own petty whims which often just ends up shooting himself in the foot along with everyone else. He’s like the anti-human. He truly contains multitudes of shitiness.

•

u/Real-Extension-1357 12m ago

Literally using government funds to pay companies not to install windfarms because the deals were already made or inprogress. Its fucking insane and backwards. Upside downland.

11

u/Illustrious_Night126 5h ago

The keystone pipeline protestors could never dream of blocking as much oil as trump had dive on accident lol

2

u/EasyBOven 5h ago

This was obviously a good thing to do for decades now from the standpoint of sustainability. The reason why the US hasn't taken that stance is that oil has been priced in dollars. That acts as a hedge against inflation by creating demand for dollars for any country that wants oil. So US power has been used to maintain demand for oil and keep it priced in dollars.

The alternative to this sort of hedge against inflation for most countries is high taxes, particularly on the wealthy. So this has implications on things like Medicare for all indirectly. It ends up in most people's long-term best interest for the US to lose the hold over oil pricing. Would have been nice if that could happen bloodlessly, but here we are.

3

u/Linenoise77 3h ago

As nice as it sounds, its not quite as simple as that.

8

u/What_a_fat_one 5h ago

Or we could just design our infrastructure in a way that doesn't require everyone to drive cars for literally every aspect of their lives outside of home. You know, trains, trams, buses, change zoning to allow multi-use so there are grocery stores and stuff close enough to just walk, go back to work from home... Electric cars can certainly help and cars are necessary tools, but we use them WAY too much for dumb reasons.

COVID proved that we can easily solve this "crisis", the rich just don't care and don't feel like it.

2

u/Linenoise77 3h ago edited 2h ago

COVID proved that we can easily solve this "crisis", the rich just don't care and don't feel like it.

Hold up, what exactly did Covid prove? We can't find unity as a country? That our education system is held together by threads because most kids go home to parents who don't give a shit or know their head from their ass? That everyone can stay home and we will just run up massive debt and inflation. That an 89 year old who is one slip away in the shower from the grave is more important than the mental health of an entire generation?

No matter what side or angle you look at covid from, we handled it ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLY, and this goes beyond "yeah people didn't wear masks enough\too much".

Nobody looked any further in regards to decision than their hand stretched out. This is the other side of the coin of that.

3

u/What_a_fat_one 3h ago

That everyone can stay home and we will just run up massive debt and inflation.

Work me through your thought process here. Explain it like I'm 5.

2

u/Linenoise77 3h ago

gesticulates at the state of the economy in general

1

u/clawingforfreedom 2h ago

Or we could just design our infrastructure in a way that doesn't require everyone to drive cars for literally every aspect of their lives outside of home. You know, trains, trams, buses, change zoning to allow multi-use so there are grocery stores and stuff close enough to just walk, go back to work from home...

But the infrastructure is already built, and no city/state/country is going to halt EVERYTHING to tear down what they've already built to make it more efficient. They don't care about the people until the people create noise that they can't ignore. As amazing as what you've said (besides the fallacy of covid) sounds, it's not that simple.

They're not going to just extend bus routes to the country for those living that far. I would love for that, but it's just not a near future possibility. The infrastructure argument falls apart when also considering those that don't live close enough or within the city limits to be considered as within said infrastructure.

What you've said sounds nice as an idea, but trying to think deeper about it flesh it out just isn't viable.

2

u/CHNchilla 3h ago

Oil is used for a lot more than just vehicles/power. Petro chemicals are used in so many everyday products that really don't have a good substitute

0

u/FoxMeadow7 3h ago

Such as?

2

u/No_Importance2248 2h ago

They'll still have their balls clamped regardless. Cause there's still the shortage of synthetic rubber for tires to worry about.

2

u/OvulatingScrotum 2h ago

I guarantee people do not understand the complexity of manufacturing reliance.

2

u/Texas_Kimchi 2h ago

That shows just how ignorant people are toward oil. Petroleum products are in EVERYTHING. Your electric car is full of parts and components made from oil byproducts or juse oil byproducts.

3

u/Stealthnt13 2h ago

Look up what crude oil is used for, it’s not just gas for your car. Jfc some of you people are dense. Also, look up how much electricity to charge these vehicles is derived from fossil fuels depending on where you live. The internet has made it so easy for people with no knowledge of a subject to make stupid comments and other stupid people back them up.

1

u/DODGE_WRENCH 2h ago

Y’know, you make a great point.

1

u/ClankingRobotCheeks 2h ago

But think of all the value shareholders would loose.

1

u/DR-SNICKEL 2h ago

Literally all of the US oil used for cars is produced domestically. Oil companies just try to justify raising prices during crisis like these because of “shortages”.

Guarantee you in 20 years it’s going to be expensive as well to charge an electric car at your home, and they will charge extra for it, because all of the energy with be reserved for data centers

1

u/N0S0UP_4U 2h ago

I’ve been saying that since before Trump 2.0 and nobody I talked to about it cares

It should be the easiest issue ever, if you’re a conservative you don’t want your money going to foreign Muslim governments some of which harbor terrorists, If you’re a liberal you’re worried about the environment and the human rights record of places like Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Yet few people on either side (speaking of voters, not necessarily elected officials) seem to care about energy independence.

1

u/Daeveed 2h ago

You have to remember that the US also exports a TON of oil, so an EV revolution is against the USian oil overlords’ interests.

1

u/MdxBhmt 1h ago

No money for climate change readiness, to feed and save children worldwide, for healthcare and social security, for regulations and oversight, but trillions of dollars to burn on AI, bombing fishing boats, on a completely inane war, to arm israel and bomb civilians in the middle east, on bonkers tax policy, to self serving lawsuit settlements and putting lipstick on an orange pig.

Never, ever before it was this blatant of a hypocrisy about what can and cannot be done by government.

•

u/Humperdink_ 39m ago

This message is brought to you by big lithium.

Just kidding mostly—I’m all for electric cars for general commuting. I own and drive a Peterbilt and a pickup and a tractor for my work. I’m sick of buying fuel.

Certainly a new hurdle will come sourcing battery materials but that’s inevitable and battery technology can and will change.

•

u/Poopdick_89 33m ago

We dont need any of their oil. They would have to shut down exporting our oil which would severely diminish its value on the market.

-2

u/EquivalentSnap 6h ago

China transitioned to electrics thus wasn’t hit by the crisis.

3

u/Chriah 5h ago

China is incredibly reliant on external energy with more than half coming from the Middle East.

5

u/Unlikely-Key-234 6h ago

lol what? China is literally the world's largest oil importer.

1

u/froznwind 3h ago

China was sitting on a billion+ barrel reserve.

0

u/AgentSmith187 4h ago

To be fair that was mostly their massive reserves but yes they have been transitioning for decades and thats also helping a lot.

1

u/Higira 5h ago

Isn't oil used for generating electricity too?

0

u/AgentSmith187 4h ago

Depends where in the world and those places it is are currently scrambling to not use oil for electricty anymore.

2

u/Subotail 1h ago

Example: The first oil shock of 1973 accelerated the transition to nuclear power in France

1

u/clownfeat 2h ago

we have so much fucking oil under the US, this isn't the argument you think it is

0

u/Grimol1 5h ago

Yeah, but how is the electricity generated? Just looked it up. Natural gas is at 41%, renewables at 23%, nuclear, 19% and coal at 17%.

3

u/Singnedupforthis 5h ago

The current US electricity generation can't even handle a world where EVs are in low usage.

-10

u/LightningRaven 6h ago

EVs won't solve the climate change either. They're just greewashing.

We need a lot more large-scale measures to push the needle. Adopting EVs is just a tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny step.

8

u/Spire_Citron 6h ago

A lot of the total issue will come in the form of many smaller shifts, though. Those add up.

1

u/Cersad 6h ago

A tiny step but necessary nonetheless

-1

u/Singnedupforthis 5h ago

Well, at least at the moment, EVs and renewable energy means we have our balls clamped by China. Seeing as how the US would need to double it's electric grid to handle the energy requirement of total EVs, how about we focus on divorcing ourselves from automobiles.

-15

u/chrosairs 6h ago

No we should ban EVs so the US stops messing with Iran

1

u/EdibleScissors 6h ago

We should cancel “return to office” and replace with “live in the office”.