Republican politicians across the U.S. are criticizing President Joe Biden over his domestic energy policies and urging his administration to do more to embrace domestic production.
The sanctions imposed by the U.S. and its allies on Russia for its war with Ukraine so far do not include oil and gas exports from the country, a step that would have severely hurt Russia’s ability to generate revenue.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt and U.S. Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio both urged Biden on Tuesday to take steps to stop Russian oil imports to the U.S.
“The recent events in Ukraine are yet another example of why we should be selling energy to our friends and not buying it from our enemies,” Stitt wrote to Biden.
Portman said it doesn’t make sense to import Russian oil at the same time the Biden administration shut down the Keystone XL Pipeline, which would have transported tens of thousands of barrels each day from Canada to U.S. refineries.
Cutting off Russian oil and gas imports could drive prices at the pump higher and have even more serious consequences for U.S. allies in Europe, which relies on natural gas from Russia for a third of its fossil fuel consumption.
Biden has not taken energy sanctions "off the table" as pressure mounts to cut Russian oil imports amid the country's invasion of Ukraine under President Vladimir Putin, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday.
"They have serious financial problems on the ground in Russia that is impacting President Putin and the circle around him," Psaki told Fox News, in discussing sanctions that already have been implemented. "What he also looks at, though, and we were very cognizant of, is minimizing the impact on the global markets and the American people."
She added: "So we have not taken options off the table, including the one you mentioned, but that is something the president looks very closely at."
Newsmax contributed to this report.
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