Ban Russian Energy Imports Act will cut off key funding source for Putin’s war in Ukraine
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, joined a bipartisan coalition of 18 senators to introduce the Ban Russian Energy Imports Act which would prohibit the importation of Russian crude oil, petroleum, petroleum products, liquified natural gas (LNG) and coal.
“Putin is selling us Russian oil to pay for his brutality in Ukraine,” said Hickenlooper. “Let’s end Russian oil imports today and accelerate the deployment of renewable energy sources so we never use it again.”
In 2021, the United States imported an average of 670,000 barrels of oil and petroleum products from Russia, with a high of 848,000 barrels per day in June 2021, with imports up 24% in 2021 over 2020.
The Ban Russian Energy Imports Act would:
- Declare a national emergencyspecificallywith respect to the threat to our national security, foreign policy, and economy that exists as a result of Russian aggression against Ukraine and directs the President to prohibit imports of crude oil, petroleum, petroleum products, LNG, and coal from Russia.
- The President has had the authority to take these actions since 1917. This approach is modeled on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Either the President or Congress would be able to end the emergency and lift the import ban.
- The bill exempts product that is already loaded or in transit at the time of enactment.
Hickenlooper was joined U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), John Tester (D-MT), Susan Collins (R-ME), Angus King (I-ME), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Steve Daines (R-MT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Mark Warner (D-VA), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Rob Portman (R-OH). Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-1) and Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ-5) will introduce companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.
To learn more about the Ban Russian Energy Imports Act, click here.
To read the full text of the Ban Russian Energy Imports Act, click here.