Defending freedom requires energy independence

What we are seeing unfold in Ukraine is troubling and heartbreaking.

Since 1991, Ukraine has been a free, peaceful, and independent country.

For many years now Russian President Vladimir Putin has bristled at having a democratic nation right on his front doorstep.

Putin is an autocrat, also known as a dictator.

He does not want this freedom to spread into his territory.

Freedom would put him out of power. That is why he’s launched this war.

I’m glad to see that the United States has imposed crippling sanctions on Russia, but more specifically, sanctions that will directly be felt by Putin and his supporters.

We have also supplied Ukraine with weapons, many of them designed and built right here in Alabama.

These weapons have had a devastating impact on Russia’s military.

Last week, I sent a letter to the Biden Administration demanding that we also stop buying Russian oil, and instead replace the oil we get from Russia with oil from our own soil.

Tuesday, the administration finally put a ban on this oil.

Since the invasion, we have seen oil prices rise and therefore prices at the pump also go up.

But don’t be fooled, gas prices have been rising every month since Joe Biden took office.

The current situation has caused them to spike, but they have been on the rise since the President decided to roll back so many of the energy policies implemented by President Trump.

During Biden’s first year in office, American’s paid $600 more per year on gas for their vehicles.

Natural gas and propane also shot up last year.

It has continued to increase in 2022.

Biden’s administration seems unconcerned about these rises in fuel.

Just this week, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Americans should buy electric cars to combat the cost of gas.

I heard someone say “that’s like telling a homeless person to go buy a house.”

Most Americans I believe, are willing to pay a little more at the pump if it helps defend freedom and cuts off a money supply to a ruthless dictator like Putin.

But the increases we’ve had at the pump should be far less than what we have seen.

The President must rollback his energy policies that are hurting our economy and our national security. He needs to bring the XL pipeline back to life. (Biden originally approved of Russia’s pipeline in Europe, but killed the one between Canada and the U.S.)

He needs to grant new drilling rights.

Instead, his administration has been talking with countries like Venezuela and Iran about getting oil from them.

The President says he is fighting climate change, which is why he’s made all these changes.

He must think that oil from other countries doesn’t make the world warmer, just oil from the United States.

We also cannot in good faith, replace oil from one dictator with oil from other dictators like Venezuela’s brutal Nicolás Maduro . Especially, when we have the ability to be completely energy independent by only producing our own oil supplies and those from our allies.

The situation with Russia and the ongoing threat from China requires we have a strong military and national defense.

I will be speaking on that more in the near future.

But our national defense also relies on America being able to produce its own energy and not having to rely on dictators and countries that do not have our best interests at heart.