Should we continue buying oil from Russia, or should we produce it ourselves?
On the one hand, we certainly could try to content ourselves with shutting Russia out of the global economy to punish Putin for what he is even now doing to the people of Ukraine in trying to reconstitute the former Soviet Union.
We could confine ourselves to grandstanding, decrying his barbarous aggression, superimposing flags of Ukraine on our social media profiles, engaging in hashtag diplomacy about how we #StandWithUkraine - all the while continuing to subsidize Putin's war efforts to the tune of $700 million a day in purchases of Russian oil and gas.
On the other hand, we outright ban Russian oil from the market. We could promise we will not buy it. Both before and after this proves hasty in the absence of a backup supply, we could wax eloquent about our addiction to fossil fuels, and how now is as good a time as any to switch to renewable energy.
Only now is not as good a time as any. It's the worst possible time. And as the rising cost of transportation and fuel drives up the price of everything else, perhaps even making many things flatly unavailable if the fuel runs out in some places, we will #StandWithUkraine in a very special sense - that of seeing our country also in ruins as our economy grinds to a halt. This in turn will leave us to the tender mercies of both President Putin and Chairman Xi.
There is another option, and this one I do not recommend, particularly in light of the circumstances.
We could go to outright war with Russia. We could declare a no-fly zone over Ukraine and then enforce it very effectively. But then the nukes will fly and we will find WWIII has commenced in earnest. And with a disastrous duo in the White House as well as generalized partisan gridlock in Washington, plus our own energy industry having been stymied to an irresponsible and reckless extent, we are not in the best position for WWIII.
This not coincidentally is why Russia and China are on the move right now, it should be noted.
But there is at least one more option - and this one I favor most. Without outright banning Russian oil when we still apparently need it, and without continuing to make ourselves dependent on Russian oil, and without firing a shot in Ukraine, we should make ourselves energy independent again. Force Russian oil out by supplying our own to displace it. This will bring the price of oil and gas down, relieve our dependence on our adversaries and would-be enemies, cut off a major source of power and wealth for them, and meanwhile make our own people prosperous and independent again.
The simple answer to whether we should be buying Russian oil is that we should not have been in the first place. But better late than never, it is time for America to commit to energy independence for the long haul starting now.
