In response to news that President Joe Biden and the European Union are negotiating a Liquefied Natural Gas export deal to be announced on Friday, Evergreen Action Executive Director Jamal Raad released the following statement:

“As President Biden is negotiating this deal, it’s critical that he oppose plans to build out long-term fossil fuel infrastructure. America must come together to stop Vladimir Putin’s fossil-fueled fascism, but we cannot double down on fossil fuel dependence. Permitting construction of any new fossil fuel infrastructure would lock America into decades of ongoing reliance on fossil fuels that is incompatible with President Biden’s climate goals.

“To deal a long-term blow to Vladimir Putin’s power, President Biden and European Union leaders must take action now to massively ramp up clean energy production and deployment. Biden and the EU should use this opportunity to forge international progress on clean energy, in addition to short-term fixes. Domestically, that starts with passing a reconciliation bill with major clean energy investments. 

“As Admiral Dennis McGinn put it earlier this month, this war never would have happened if not for the international community's addiction to fossil fuels. Increasing fossil gas infrastructure now will only deepen America’s reliance on a volatile energy market vulnerable to manipulation by fossil-fueled dictators like Vladimir Putin, worsening the climate crisis and leaving working families exposed to oil and gas price shocks. To guarantee real energy security for Americans, we must accelerate the transition to a 100% clean energy economy that can deliver affordable, reliable energy for all.”

Earlier this month, Evergreen released an “Evergreen Explains” policy paper calling for increasing clean energy deployment to free the energy market from Russian oil. Evergreen also partnered with Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) on a video debunking myths about the Ukraine crisis and energy policy.