West Virginia lawmakers led the charge in Washington, D.C., to stop our country’s financial support of Russia through our use of their fossil fuels. U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., sponsored the Ban Russian Energy Imports Act. U.S. Rep. David McKinley, R-W.Va., introduced similar legislation Monday in the U.S. House.
President Joe Biden heard their calls and Tuesday announced a ban on Russian energy imports.
Biden made a wise choice in listening to our state’s lawmakers. If anyone is qualified to reassure nervous lawmakers our country can stand without fossil fuels imported from Russia, it is the delegation from the Mountain State.
Manchin and Capito were among those in a Zoom meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the weekend, in which Zelenskyy said he agreed the U.S. should ban Russian fossil fuel imports.
Even Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., agrees with the move, telling reporters Sunday the hoped-for bill in the House would “ban the import of Russian oil and energy products into the United States, repeal normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus, and take the first step to deny Russia access to the World Trade Organization.”
“This is something I believe that should be done. It should be done immediately,” Manchin said.
The question now is just what the cost will be for consumers at the pump. It’s going to get more expensive to fuel the tank, but this is an important move as the nation should not be funding Vladimir Putin’s war machine.
Manchin, Capito and McKinley made the right call — and Biden listened.