The ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine was a clarifying moment for the world – not only of our need to fight autocracy and defend order after World War II, but also of the need to reduce our dependence on foreign energy and America to expand production at its place.
We now have an opportunity to get our energy security policy right, both to deal a blow to Russia and to strengthen our hand for future geopolitical challenges.
Alex Crispin [ Provided ]
Ever since Vladimir Putin’s brazen invasion of Ukraine in March, the world has struggled to respond. In addition to sanctions and deadly aid, the United States has essentially banned the import of Russian energy.
While these moves are effective – Russia’s economy has shrunk significantly – they are also reactive and cumbersome. A major country’s sudden cut in energy exports shakes the global economy and, as we all saw this summer, can hurt everyday consumers with higher gas prices.
A far better approach going forward would be to take steady, proactive action that will bring manufacturing and power generation back to America, weaken our adversaries, and create jobs here at home.
While Congress recently passed some tax credits and other regulations to increase energy production here domestically, the US remains without an international energy strategy.
An important instrument is a marginal carbon offset. A market-based mechanism, cross-border carbon offsetting, works by charging foreign countries a fee for the carbon content of their imported products. Since the US economy is already cleaner and more carbon efficient than our biggest competitors, this approach would reduce the economic clout of Russia and China and give the US a competitive advantage.
Putin’s oil czar Igor Sechin has warned that a BCA would do far more damage to the Russian economy than sanctions.
Similarly, China, a rising geopolitical adversary of the United States, has an energy and manufacturing industry that is significantly dirtier and more carbon-intensive than the American alternative. Holding China accountable for its emissions through a BCA would give the US a competitive advantage and help shift energy generation and manufacturing back to America.
On several levels, a BCA would advance our core national security interests. It would ensure that we generate more energy and manufacture more essential goods here at home. At the same time, because America’s economy is cleaner, it would help reduce emissions and protect our environment.
This approach to US energy policy stands in sharp contrast to the stance of many climate advocates on the left, who have pushed a convoluted and contradictory agenda – particularly around energy security. In a short time, they vacillated between US pushes to phase out all fossil fuels as part of the far-fetched Green New Deal and the recent call for more oil to be released from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
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As Republicans seek to chart a stronger course for US energy policy, it is no coincidence that leading conservative voices are leaning towards a marginal adjustment to carbon emissions. Sens. Kevin Cramer and Lindsey Graham and former Trump National Security Advisor HR McMaster are among the leading conservatives who support this idea, and I hope that Florida Sens. Rick Scott and Marco Rubio will do the same.
A steady, market-based transition that boosts US energy production and strengthens American manufacturing is exactly what our times require. It would advance US economic and security interests while creating a cleaner and safer future.
Alex Crispin is a member of the Pinellas County Young Republicans. He is an online graduate student at the University of Central Florida and works with the nonprofit Young Conservatives for Carbon Dividends. He previously served with the Republican National Committee as the regional engagement coordinator for the Tampa Bay-Pinellas region.
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