That said, I think energy independence is a really major concern but one that few countries actually do something about. I personally believe Merkel shut down the nuclear reactors due to popular appeal more than anything to her own party’s benefit.

Energy independence is extremely important. During the height of winter 2022, Russia was pressuring Europe to abandon Ukraine and with Russia being Europe’s major supplier of natural gas, the upcoming cold winter meant that Russia had a lot of leverage, being able to force Europe to decide between freezing or weakening support for Ukraine. In the end, the US decided to ship an exceptional amount of natural gas to Europe (over 74% of natural gas produced in the US went to Europe during that time!) as a major foreign policy move in pursuit of its main goal of keeping Ukraine independent by ensuring continuing Europe support. Unfortunately, it had a direct cost on me and everyone because my natural gas bill during those months was literally the highest it has ever been.