Today, Congressman Curtis introduced the Energy Unleashing in Response to the Offenses of Putin against Europeans Act, or the EUROPE Act.
The EUROPE Act closes a loophole in Biden’s energy sanctions by isolating Russia’s oil and gas industry from the global market through secondary sanctions. It also supports our European allies by replacing their Russian gas with reliable American clean energy. This will be done by boosting domestic production, expediting LNG exports to treaty ally countries, expediting liquified natural gas (LNG) terminals for the export to treaty allies, and financing the building of clean energy projects.
“The world has a choice to make. We can either rely on Russia for energy or we could reverse our bad energy policies that reduce emissions and increase world security. My bill would replace Russia’s oil and gas industry with American clean energy and block Putin from much of the global market through secondary sanctions and takes steps to wean Europe and our other partners off Russian gas,” Curtis said. “Nearly 40% of Russia’s economy comes from oil and gas and this money directly finances Putin’s aggression against Ukraine and the world.”
The EUROPE Act:
- Places “secondary sanctions” on the Russian oil and gas industry: Secondary sanctions are sanctions on any foreign bank that engages in a financial transaction for the sale or purchase of petroleum or petroleum products to or from Russia.
- This is what the U.S. did to Iran’s oil industry, and it would effectively block Russian oil and gas from much of the global market.
- Puts countries that the U.S. has a mutual defense treaty with on the same level as countries the U.S. has a free trade agreement with and ensures exports are approved without modification or delay.
- Expedites FERC approval of terminals for the export of LNG to treaty ally countries.
- Repeals the moratorium on oil and gas leasing on public lands and offshore waters to boost domestic production.
- Instructs EXIM Bank to set aside significant amounts of funds to finance energy projects where a strategic competitor is bidding or where the U.S. can provide a more environmentally friendly alternative. This could finance LNG ports, nuclear power plants, and renewables.
To learn more about the bill, please read Congressman Curtis’ op-ed in the Deseret News explaining its need.