As the war between Russia and Ukraine wages on, many Americans have been quickly reminded just how global our economy really is.
A war involving Russia, which provides the United States with 8% of our nation’s oil and refined products, can suddenly spike fuel prices at your local gas station. Nearly two weeks ago, drivers in my home district in Western Pennsylvania — like nearly everyone nationwide — started paying more than $4 a gallon for the first time in over a decade.
The interruption of our nation’s oil supply — and subsequently skyrocketing prices — is just the latest reminder that we need to refocus our energy policies in Washington.
In May 2021, two things happened: The U.S. imported a record amount of Russian oil, and President Joe Biden waived sanctions on Nord Stream 2, the Russian natural gas pipeline set to supply much of Europe with energy. Four months earlier, Mr. Biden had canceled the Keystone XL pipeline between the U.S. and Canada, which would have delivered an additional 830,000 barrels of crude oil per day to U.S. refineries and created thousands of jobs. That’s more oil than the U.S. imports from Russia each day.
We can’t depend on bad foreign actors such as Russia, Venezuela or Iran to help provide our nation’s energy. Above all, we must stop bankrolling the Russian war machine altogether. Mr. Biden’s and Congress’ efforts last week to ban Russian oil imports are a step in the right direction.
According to the Council on Foreign Relations, “revenue from the [energy] sector is responsible for more than 40 percent of the [Russia]) federal budget.” Some quick back-of-the-envelope math: The 8% of Russian oil we import equates to 672,000 barrels per day. That figure, together with the going rate of approximately $110 per barrel, means Russian companies and the Russian government combined were making $73.9 million per day from the United States.
But this moment calls for a broader push to end our reliance on foreign energy sources. To start, Mr. Biden should reverse his executive order banning the Keystone XL pipeline. Next, we must return to Trump-era energy policies that made the U.S. energy independent. To amend the former president’s tagline, we can “Make North America Great Again.”
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 61% of U.S. crude oil imports come from Canada, and another 11% comes from Mexico. We should explore expanding oil imports from our allies and neighbors rather than paying our adversaries, who can hold our energy sector hostage. Doing so not only makes economic sense, but it improves relations with those closest to us and further strengthens our national security by becoming less dependent on bullies like Russia.
On the contrary, Mr. Biden’s Green New Deal wish-list has placed unnecessary burdens on the oil and gas industry. Even as gas prices are reaching record highs nationwide, just last month Mr. Biden announced he is pausing decisions about new federal oil and gas drilling as part of his plan to tackle climate change. And that’s just the beginning.
So far, President Biden has announced the release of 80 million barrels of oil from the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve. But the purpose of the SPR is to counter severe supply chain disruptions and enhance national security, not to score quick political points. Those 80 million barrels are worth only about four days of U.S. oil consumption. Meanwhile, China has hardly tapped their oil reserves. Mr. Biden’s decision is short-sighted and dangerous.
I’m proud to represent the great commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a place once deemed “the Saudi Arabia of natural gas.” Pennsylvania produces 21% of the natural gas extracted in the United States, second-most only to Texas, according to the EIA. In 2020, the EIA adds, “U.S. dry natural gas production was about 10 percent greater than U.S. total natural gas consumption.” That means we can export natural gas we produce, creating energy security for other nations —notably for European allies currently depending on Russian natural gas — and forging stronger foreign policy in the process.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the spike in fuel costs go hand-in-glove with American foreign policy. If we’re dependent on bad actors for energy, we’re subjecting ourselves to their demands. But if we can supply the world with affordable energy, we strengthen our international ties; we reinforce relationships instead of falling behind; and, most importantly, we give the American people the greater sense of security that Russia so desperately seeks to have only for itself.
Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly represents Pennsylvania’s 16th Congressional District and is a member of the Ways & Means Committee and the House Natural Gas Caucus.
First Published March 16, 2022, 11:36am
Author: U.S. REP. MIKE KELLYPublication: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
https://www.post-gazette.com/