Congressional Republicans are pushing for energy independence as part of the U.S. response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine.
Speaking to the Washington Examiner shortly before President Joe Biden’s first State of the Union address, Rep. Drew Ferguson, chief deputy whip for House Republicans, called the unfolding situation in Ukraine “an unmitigated disaster.”
“We’ve got to stand united with our allies to break Putin to make sure that the people of Ukraine have the resources that they need to fight this war,” Ferguson said, adding that Putin’s actions will have “devastating” consequences for the Russian people and economy.
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Ferguson said the United States should immediately stop buying Russian oil.
“We cannot let monsters rule this earth,” he said. “When you enable a monster by giving them cash, you continually feed the problem.”
Ferguson criticized Biden for signing an executive order to block the Keystone XL pipeline on his first day in office, arguing that the move “immediately destroyed the American energy independence that we had created.”
Some estimates indicate that the pipeline may have eventually reduced Russian oil imports, but it is unlikely that had the project continued, it would currently be complete.
Ferguson said the Russian imports are “funding Putin’s war efforts.”
“Why in the world would we continue to buy Russian or every barrel of oil that we buy has Ukrainian blood in it?” he asked. “We’ve got to put an end to that.”
He argued that the president should adopt an “all of the above strategy that really focuses on using the resources that this great country has.”
“We can produce more clean American energy here using American natural gas and American oil,” Ferguson said. “We can supply ourselves, and we can supply our allies. And we don’t have to keep funding this horrible regime in Russia. There’s no place for this, and there should be smarter policies by the American government.”
Energy independence as a component of the U.S. response to Russia’s invasion was echoed by many congressional Republicans and was a feature of some of the legislation they have recently introduced.
House Republicans introduced this week the American Energy Independence from Russia Act, which would reauthorize the Keystone XL pipeline and permit some oil and gas leasing on federal lands and waters.
Rep. Liz Cheney, a co-sponsor of the bill, said in a statement, “The Biden administration’s energy policy has been wrong from day one.”
“Now, as Vladimir Putin conducts an unprovoked and unjustified assault on a sovereign nation, the United States must stop importing Russian energy and block their access to this revenue source,” Cheney said.
A group of Republican senators this week introduced the American Energy Independence Act of 2022, which they said would direct federal agencies to identify and rescind existing regulations hindering energy independence as well as restore the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline.
In a statement announcing the introduction of the bill, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley said, “Energy costs were already skyrocketing due to President Biden’s disastrous policies that have made us more reliant on energy from places like Russia.”
“Putin’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine will make matters worse for energy costs at home,” Grassley said. “Now more than ever, we need to reclaim our energy independence so Iowa families don’t continue paying the price for this administration’s failures. That’s why I’m proud to support the American Energy Independence Act, which will take critical steps to lower gas prices and unleash energy production right here in the United States.”
Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, also called for ending a reliance on Russian energy “up to and including banning crude oil imports from Russia.”
“The entire world is watching as Vladimir Putin uses energy as a weapon in an attempt to extort and coerce our European allies,” Manchin said in a Monday statement. “While Americans decry what is happening in Ukraine, the United States continues to allow the import of more than half a million barrels per day of crude oil and other petroleum products from Russia during this time of war. This makes no sense at all and represents a clear and present danger to our nation’s energy security. The United States can and must ramp up domestic energy production and increase access to our abundant resources and technologies to both protect our energy independence and support our allies around the globe.”
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Manchin said a reliance on Russian energy “as they attack Ukraine is senseless” and “the strategic value of American energy and what can be done to better position our nation on the global stage will be an ongoing topic in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.”
