Biden Bans Russian Oil in Response to Ukraine War
While War Rages in Ukraine, U.S. Fossil Fuel Companies Push for Profits
WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Joe Biden today announced his intent to ban the import of the small amount of Russian oil imported into the United States. The ban comes after bipartisan negotiations in Congress to enact a ban of Russian oil. The ban on Russian oil comes at a moment when U.S. fossil fuel producers and Republican lawmakers are waging a campaign to drill everywhere and remove any and all barriers to drilling for fossil fuels.
Public Citizen today published an explainer pointing out that the war in Ukraine should serve as a clarion call to kick our addiction to fossil fuels and speed the transition to clean renewable energy.
In response to the ban, Public Citizen President Robert Weissman issued the following statement:
“Fossil fuel executives and their political allies are shamelessly using the war to increase, rather than decrease, our dependence on dirty fuels. These self-serving responses to the war in Ukraine conveniently ignore the facts about U.S. oil production and inaccurately seek to link Biden administration policies to gasoline prices for political gain. Federal drilling permits under Biden are still higher than during most of the oil-soaked Trump era, and starting drilling now does nothing to lower gas prices any time soon, if ever.
“Big Oil shamefully aims to exploit the Russian invasion of Ukraine to lock in years of fossil fuel exports.
“Advancing national security – not to mention averting civilization-threatening climate catastrophe – demands we must immediately move away from carbon-intensive forms of energy.”