In recent days, GOP senators, governors, and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), have begun calling on the Biden administration to boost domestic oil and gas production as a way to ease rising energy costs caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine. From an age-old playbook, the fossil fuel industry and its allies are exploiting the Ukraine crisis to boost US oil and gas development and weaken environmental protections for new oil and gas projects.
This is dangerously short-sighted, both in our collective fight to save a dying planet and in the fight against an aggressive, autocratic petrostate like Russia. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine represents further proof that America needs to shift quickly to a clean energy economy that will protect our national security, secure energy independence, and save Americans money.