Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., is looking to cement President Trump’s tough opposition to a Russian natural gas pipeline in a bill he introduced on Wednesday.
Barrasso, chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, said Trump was “absolutely right” to voice his concerns over the Nord Stream 2 pipeline when he was in Brussels last week to meet with NATO members.
Trump made headlines when he called Germany a “captive” of Russia because of its dependence on energy supplies from there. Trump wants Europe to diversify its energy supplies to rely more on U.S. natural gas exports, as the U.S. is now the largest oil and gas producer.
The Russian Nord Stream 2 pipeline would bring natural gas to Europe via Germany. Barrasso called the arrangement “a sucker’s bet.”
“Germany seems to be betting that increasing its economic ties to the Kremlin will have no effect on the political manipulations that Russia wants to play on Europe,” he said on the Senate floor.
Barrasso’s bill, the Energy Security Cooperation with Allied Partners in Europe, or ESCAPE, Act would direct the U.S. and Europe to diversify energy markets, creating more competition and pushing Russia out as the dominant provider.
“It also mandates sanctions on the Nord Stream II pipeline that would carry natural gas from Russia to Germany, along with other Russian energy export pipelines,” according to a summary of the bill.
“Europe needs new energy sources,” Barrasso said. “They need diversity in both the types of energy that they use and in where they get their energy from.”
