LETTER: Oil arms Putin, clean energy is a weapon to conquer him

To Ozaukee Press:

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “is a war underwritten by oil and gas, a war whose most crucial weapon may be oil and gas, a war we can’t fully engage because we remain dependent on oil and gas,” writes activist Bill McKibben.

Harvard economist Jason Furman notes Russia’s economy is “incredibly unimportant in the global economy except for oil and gas,” which account for 60% of Russia’s exports and $500 million in revenue daily.

Putin is calculating the prospect of $5 per gallon gasoline will prevent the west from cutting oil and gas imports and hitting Russia where it really hurts. It took two weeks for the U.S. to finally ban Russian fossil fuel imports. Europe continues to purchase Russian oil.

This oil dependence not only empowers Putin, air pollution from burning fossil fuels kills millions yearly and is rapidly heating the planet.

Quickly adopting clean energy—whose prices have plummeted over the past decade—would hamstring Putin’s evil ambitions while cleaning the air and stabilizing the climate.

Support the brave people of Ukraine by encouraging elected officials to speed clean energy deployment. In the face of Putin’s tyranny, consider it a patriotic duty.

Dan Herscher
Birchwood