This is how we take on Putin *and* climate change
Instead of replacing methane gas from Russia with U.S. gas, we must use our economic might to help Europe and Ukraine transition off methane gas altogether. And to do that we need to replace as many gas-powered furnaces with electric-powered heat pumps as possible.
Heat pumps are a rapidly expanding, proven technology that use electricity, not fossil fuels, to heat and cool buildings. They’re already playing a crucial role in SAFE Cities’ push to help local municipalities electrify buildings here in the U.S., and now they have a chance to deal a huge blow to Putin by allowing people all across Europe to move off of Russian-sourced methane gas.
Join me in calling on President Biden to use the Defense Production Act to stop Putin from weaponizing methane gas.
It gets better. President Biden could use the Defense Production Act to single-handedly unleash $650 billion worth of spending on other technologies that are critical to undermining fossil fuels' role on the world stage and slowing down their negative impact on the climate.
He could electrify transport to insulate our economy from oil price shocks, increase investment in renewable energy technology to move the world away from fossil fuels, and scale community-based energy sources to protect the grid from cyber attacks.
All of this while creating millions of quality, high-paying jobs in low-income communities and communities of color that historically have bore the brunt of the costs of our addiction to fossil fuels.
Tell Biden: Use the Defense Production Act to create millions of jobs, wean the world off fossil fuels, and stick it to petro-dictators like Putin.
What’s happening in Ukraine right now is horrific, and sadly, we've seen this before. For far too long, countries and leaders propped up by fossil fuels have gotten away with terrible things.
We must take action right now to stand with the people of Ukraine, and with the civilians in Russia who are protesting the violent actions of their goverment.
But it is also important to acknowledge how this movement and global community has failed in the past. Where was the global response in the face of Russian aggression and war crimes against the Syrian people? Why was little done when Saudi Arabia fought its proxy war with Iran in Yemen, killing hundreds of thousands in what is currently the world’s worst humanitarian crisis? Why is barely anything being said or done against China, who continues to commit a clearly documented genocide against the Uyghurs?
It’s no coincidence that Russia, Saudi Arabia, and China collectively supply 28% of the world’s oil, 26% of the world’s gas, and more than 50% of the world’s coal. And as the sometimes openly biased coverage of Ukraine has made abundantly clear, the Western world is often far too quiet when violence is perpetrated against people of color or people in the global south.
Even now as refugees flee from Ukraine, the level of unequal treatment between white refugees and refugees of color is unconscionable. This is unacceptable.
And none of this even begins to touch on how fossil fuel extraction has also been at the heart of many of the wars the U.S. has and is still fighting around the world.
The international community must do better. The climate movement, on a planet where the majority of people living and bearing the worst impacts of climate change are still in the global south, must do better.
Reducing our dependence on fossil fuels isn’t just the right thing to do. It’s the pathway to a safer, sustainable world.
Together, I know the Stand.earth community – now over 700,000 people strong – can help us get there.
In solidarity,
Nathan Taft
Senior Digital Campaigner
Stand.earth
P.S. If you want to do more to help Ukranian residents, head over here for a list of good ways to do so.
