Denver –– Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet joined the bipartisan Ban Russian Energy Imports Act, which would prohibit the importation of Russian crude oil, petroleum, petroleum products, liquified natural gas (LNG) and coal.
“It’s time to liberate America from Russian oil imports that enable Putin’s lawless war against Ukraine,” said Bennet. “We need to secure our energy independence and supercharge our transition to clean energy.”
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 emergency specific to the threat of Russian aggression against Ukraine to our national security, foreign policy, and economy 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; the legislation does not grant additional authority.
- The ban would be in place during the national emergency and either the President or Congress would be able to terminate the emergency and the import ban.
- The bill exempts product that is already loaded or in transit at the time of enactment.
In addition to Bennet, this legislation is co-sponsored by U.S. Senators John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Angus King (I-Maine), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Rob Portman (R-Ohio).
U.S. Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) will introduce companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The bill text is available HERE. A summary of the bill is available HERE.