Climate watch: Clean energy transition would break Russia’s geopolitical hold

For years, our planet has been showing us the need to move away from fossil fuels. Extreme weather, driven by greenhouse gas emissions, continues to get more frequent and more expensive to recover from.

But today, it’s not just the climate pressuring us to get off fossil fuels. Our geopolitical and economic realities now demand the same thing.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was swiftly condemned by world leaders, and President Biden announced sanctions designed to cut Russia out of global economic activity. But Biden at first stopped short of calling for direct sanctions on energy, partially due to the fact that limiting oil and gas supply would ultimately drive prices up, to Putin’s benefit. On March 8, Biden did ultimately announce that the U.S. will ban imports of oil and natural gas from Russia.

Already, however, it’s clear that America’s — and the world’s — fossil fuel dependence hampers our ability to respond to Russia’s attack.

“Russia is incredibly unimportant in the global economy except for oil and gas,” one Harvard economist pointed out.

The American Petroleum Institute jumped to take advantage of this dynamic. They renewed their calls for American energy independence. But energy independence cannot come through increased domestic oil and gas production. In fact, the U.S. is a net exporter of energy, yet our energy prices are still affected by the actions of Russia and Saudi Arabia. So, the “solution” of additional fossil fuels would merely be a swap — an attempt to address one major problem while exacerbating others: climate change and price volatility.

But imagine an America powered by abundant clean energy, leading the world in the transition away from fossil fuels. Our leaders could more easily impose hefty sanctions on Russia’s oil and gas companies because higher fossil fuel prices wouldn’t hurt us here at home, and global demand for those fossil fuels would shrink.

Clean energy would mean that our domestic energy prices are stable and affordable, freeing us from the volatility of fossil fuel prices. And of course, clean energy would not dump tons of heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere.

So the question is not, “Should we transition off of fossil fuels?” The only answer to that is yes. Indeed, the E.U. is already taking steps in this direction, spurred by Russia’s attack. The question now is how can the U.S. make the transition?

A well-designed price on carbon — which the U.S. Senate is already seriously discussing — would meet all the needs here. First, imposing a carbon price would speed the transition to cleaner energy options throughout the entire economy, from the biggest industries down to individual consumer choices. Second, the revenue from the carbon price can be allocated to Americans as a regular dividend or “carbon cashback,” protecting Americans from higher costs and fighting against inflation. Third, a border carbon adjustment can be used to impose international pressure, which would break the grip of oil states like Russia. The E.U. is already planning to implement a tariff like this, and Republicans in Congress are expressing support for a similar idea.

We can’t wait any longer for the transition to clean energy, and we have broad agreement on the policy that can get us there. Our climate, our energy prices, and the stability of our world are at stake.