On CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS, anchor Fareed Zakaria finally realized what a difficult situation the United States is in by not being energy independent and reliant on Russia for oil. Knowing that ceasing the purchase of oil from Russia will only drive up gas prices further, Zakaria on Sunday urged President Joe Biden to ramp up U.S. oil production.
Using his opening monologue, Zakaria laid out his case for why Biden should stop buying oil from Russia.
"There is one path to changing Putin's calculus, sanctioning Russia's oil and gas industry. This is Vladimir Putin's golden goose, the source of the state's wealth and the reason he might believe that he can weather any storm," Zakaria argued.
The CNN host then told his viewers that "today, the United States is the largest producer of oil and gas in the world, it can ramp up production and exports and help turn on spigots in other countries."
Zakaria also sought to calm the Democrat Party's fears that if Biden sanctions the Russian oil market, the United States will relive the gas shortages of the 1970s and will look like former President Jimmy Carter:
Joe Biden is worried that he's gonna look like Jimmy Carter when his power position is actually more like that of the King of Saudi Arabia. President Biden should announce that he’s going to respond to this massive challenge to the international order by expediting as much production and export of American petroleum as possible to replace Russian energy.
Zakaria, who most likely suspected instant backlash from left-wing environmental activists in his audience, sought to explain how the United States producing its own energy is actually better for the environment than having it shipped from Russia:
There is even an environmental benefit. U.S. gas leaks less methane than Russian gas and U.S. Oil production is also less environmentally harmful than Russian production. In many places the increase in natural gas would mean countries like Germany could use less coal or dirtier fuel in nearly every way. In fact, the best way to cut carbon emissions in the short term with current technologies and at scale is to replace coal with natural gas.
He ended with a message that this is the time to strike at "Vladimir Putin's real Achilles' heel" and sanction Russia's oil and gas economy. But he warned that in order to do this, the United States must take steps to "support all non-Russian energy." Only then can we finally bring Russia to its knees.
To read the relevant transcript click "expand":
CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS
3/6/2022
10:02:15 a.m. EasternFAREED ZAKARIA: There is one path to changing Putin's calculus, sanctioning Russia's oil and gas industry. This is Vladimir Putin's golden goose, the source of the state's wealth and the reason he might believe that he can weather any storm. So far not only have these been left untouched, but the financial sanctions have been carefully designed to allow Russia room to continue to sell energy to the world. The conventional wisdom is that the western world cannot sanction Russian energy because it will trigger an energy crisis along the lines of the 1970s which would cause deep discontent at home, but the situation is not analogous to the 1970s at all.
Today the United States is the largest producer of oil and gas in the world, it can ramp up production and exports and help turn on spigots in other countries. Joe Biden is worried that he's gonna look like Jimmy Carter when his power position is actually more like that of the King of Saudi Arabia. President Biden should announce that he’s going to respond to this massive challenge to the international order by expediting as much production and export of American petroleum as possible to replace Russian energy. With natural gas he should urge his regulators to facilitate production and he should help more with the financing of liquefied natural gas so that it can be sent to Europe quickly. He should also encourage countries like Japan and South Korea to divert more of their LNG to Europe, they have alternative energy sources. Some of this will take time to happen, but markets will react to the signals, and to new supplies and prices will fall.
But this will not be enough. President Biden should also help to unlock two large sources of oil that are currently not getting to the market fast enough or in sufficient quantities. He should suspend Donald Trump's sanctions on Venezuela and Iran. If possible, Washington should work with Iran to close the few remaining gaps and reenter the nuclear deal which would bring all of Iran's oil back on the market. And Biden should personally reach out to Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia and Mohammed bin Zayed of the UAE, both of whom feel unloved by Washington these days, patch up relations with them and ask them to ramp up production, which the Gulf states can best do in the short term. I can hear all the objections from right and left. Let me address a few. Much of this oil and gas will simply substitute for banned Russian energy, so it's unlikely to cause net higher emissions.
There is even an environmental benefit. U.S. gas leaks less methane than Russian gas and U.S. Oil production is also less environmentally harmful than Russian production. In many places the increase in natural gas would mean countries like Germany could use less coal or dirtier fuel in nearly every way. In fact, the best way to cut carbon emissions in the short term with current technologies and at scale is to replace coal with natural gas. All of these measures have downsides, some symbolic, some real, but to govern is to choose, and to govern in a crisis is to make hard painful choices. The country that has best understood this is Germany, it has suspended its Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, announced plans to build two new terminals to convert LNG into gas, and acknowledged that it might have to use more coal and to extend the life of its nuclear plants that were scheduled to be shuttered. These policies are coming from a coalition government whose second most important partner is the Green Party, which historically has been tenacious in its environmental goals. The Biden administration has said that the stakes could not be higher, and that's right. If Putin's aggression succeeds, we will live in a different world, so let us make sure that he does not. When Adolf Hitler attacked the Soviet Union Winston Churchill a lifelong rabid anti-communist explained that if Hitler invaded hell, he, Churchill, would have found something nice to say about the devil. All we must do is take some steps to support all non-Russian energy and that policy shift will become a deadly weapon that strikes at Vladimir Putin's real Achilles' heel.
