Letter to the editor: Biden should reverse oil policies to pressure Putin

What is the most significant action the Biden administration could do to pressure Vladimir Putin without getting us involved in an unpopular war? If you said, “return to reinstating our own domestic oil production,” go to the head of the class.

By reversing Biden’s executive orders that canceled plans for the Keystone XL pipeline to cross into the United States, canceled gas leases and discouraged oil exploration, we would be able to once again shut off Putin’s revenue source and simultaneously allow us to sell oil to the European nations being held hostage to Russian oil.

Biden removed President Trump’s sanctions from the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, only to reinstate them after Putin invaded. These actions would help our economy, and help individual Americans in their pocketbooks, by reducing inflation. Since 2019, we doubled the amount of crude oil we have bought from Russia. What is the point of placing sanctions on Putin if we are funding his military by buying his oil?

Why won’t Biden reverse these policies? First, it would embarrass him by admitting Trump’s policy was beneficial to the U.S. and the world. Second, it would diminish the importance of eliminating petrol products in order to reduce global warming. How many Americans still believe global warming is a bigger threat to us than Putin’s army on the march, China’s aggression to our allies in the Pacific or Iran’s reemergence on the world stage?

Third, the opposite of peace through strength is war through weakness. Some have said Biden has the backbone of an éclair. Come to think of it, do any of Biden’s policies benefit America and the cause of freedom?

Michael Contes

New Kensington