Blinken: We’re Not Halting Gas and Oil Purchases from Russia Because We’re Trying to Minimize ‘Pain to Us’

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Breitbart

On Thursday’s broadcast of “CBS Evening News,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken responded to a question on whether the United States will cut off purchases of oil and gas from Russia over its invasion of Ukraine by stating that we’re trying to ensure “that we inflict maximum pain on Russia” while at the same time, “minimizing any of the pain to us.”

Host Norah O’Donnell asked, “Russia’s economy’s fueled by gas, and the U.S. is a consumer. So, would the U.S. consider cutting off oil and gas purchases from Russia?”

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America’s Best Move Against Putin, Russia Would Be Energy Revival, Sen. Josh Hawley Says

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said the best way to stand up to Russian President Vladimir Putin is to reinvigorate American energy production, which has dropped dramatically under the Biden administration. 

“If you want to send a message to Vladimr Putin, here’s a message to send him: We are going to be the ones who supply the oil and gas to the world. We are going to shut down your energy sector and we are going to open ours up like you’ve never seen it before,” Hawley said during remarks Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida. 

Hawley announced that he would introduce a Senate bill Monday to “open back up” energy production in the United States. 

Hawley’s comments followed Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine early Thursday, prompting the U.S. government and allies to impose new economic sanctions on the Kremlin. 

 

Putin’s strongest leverage on the world economic stage has been Russia’s vast oil production, which makes it  the chief supplier of oil and gas to most of Europe and a significant petroleum supplier to the United States. 

Hawley noted that shortly after taking office in January 2021, President Joe Biden blocked construction of the Keystone XL pipeline transporting oil from Canada into the United States, but initially approved Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline transporting natural gas to Germany. :snip:

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Biden drilling freeze makes us poorer and less safe

 

The White House moved last weekend to freeze, indefinitely, new federal oil and gas drilling. Why? Because a judge ruled the $51-per-ton figure it was using to calculate the “social impact of carbon” from fossil fuels “artificially” boosted cost estimates for new drilling.

Instead of following the judge’s ruling and lowering its estimate, the president simply turned everything off at the tap.

It couldn’t have come at a worse moment. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is threatening to impact global energy supplies — and prices. Biden himself on Tuesday said his team is “monitoring” oil supplies during the crisis. And he claimed he was working to “blunt” any impact.

Yet turning off the federal oil spigot will do just the opposite, putting America at the mercy of other nations.

In 2020, for the first time in decades, the US became energy independent, producing more oil than we consumed. Our economy was far less affected by oil- and gas-price surges. 

We were also more secure. We didn’t have to get involved with despotic regimes and Mideast unrest. We didn’t have to beg autocrat-infested organizations like OPEC for help with supply problems.

Energy independence made us richer and safer. Yet Biden has ended that.

[Valin]