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Joint Letter To President Biden For Ukraine

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Joint Letter To President Biden For Ukraine

Joint Letter To President Biden For Ukraine

WEDNESDAY MARCH 9, 2022
Over 200 groups call on Biden to use the Defense Production Act to help Ukraine by
accelerating the clean energy transition

The Honorable Joseph R. Biden
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Biden,

We stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people and we want to thank you for halting oil imports from Russia. We urge you to continue to resist short-sighted policies such as scaling up domestic fossil fuel production or expanding oil and gas infrastructure or financing, which would only deepen our dependence on fuels that lead to global instability and drive further devastating climate impacts.
Instead, we are calling on you to invoke the Defense Production Act (DPA) to ramp up the deployment of renewable energy 1 to transition the world off fossil fuels.

Already the impacts of the humanitarian tragedy in Ukraine are being felt not just in Europe where electricity, heating, and food costs are set to soar, but here in the U.S. and around the world as the price of oil and gas skyrockets.

Putin’s ability to wreak such destruction on Ukraine is predicated on global dependence on fossil fuels. Oil and gas constitute forty percent of Russia’s national revenue, meaning Russian exports of oil and gas are literally funding this invasion. What’s more, global reliance on Russian oil and gas slowed our collective will to respond over fear of higher energy costs the world over.

At the same time, days after the invasion of Ukraine, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its most dire report in 30 years, calling for an end to the fossil fuel era, and documenting what United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres called the “atlas of human suffering” due to climate change.

You can deploy your executive powers to weaken the geopolitical power of fossil fuels, address the climate emergency, and prevent further mass suffering.

We urge you to utilize the Defense Production Act to ramp up the deployment of renewable energy to transition the world off fossil fuels and generate millions of good quality, union jobs.The DPA – which you have already used to fight the COVID- 19 pandemic and respond to wildfires – provides you with the historic opportunity to produce alternatives to fossil fuels, fight the climate emergency, combat Putin’s stranglehold on the world’s energy economy, and support the transition to a renewable and just economy. While we call for the use of the DPA, we implore that you use this mechanism for peaceful means, not increased militarization of the conflict.

We urge you to invoke your DPA powers 2 to:

  • Rapidly scale up production, manufacturing, and deployment of renewable energy technologies, heat pumps, storage, and weatherization technologies here and abroad. These green technologies can be exported to Ukraine, the rest of Europe, and the Global South to help wean them off of their dependence on Russian fossil fuels. And they should be simultaneously deployed across the United States to jumpstart the renewable energy revolution and prioritize construction in climate-vulnerable communities. With one fell swoop, you would reduce energy costs and move the world away from fossil fuel markets that are all too easily manipulated by bad actors.
  • Create millions of long-term, high-paying domestic jobs and position the U.S. to be a global leader in showcasing the economic benefits of the just and renewable energy transition. Investments by the Federal government can create high-quality, family-supporting jobs; and build worker power by including high-road labor standards.
  • Accelerate the transition to zero-emission public transportation, alternatives to car based transportation and related infrastructure domestically, and deploy it nationwide, prioritizing communities who are most vulnerable to the climate emergency. These steps will reduce the burden of higher gas prices at the pump for U.S. residents.

    Critically, all of the above must center and prioritize low-wealth communities and communities of color that have disproportionately suffered the negative externalities associated with our fossil fuel economy.

    A renewable energy future is a peaceful and ultimately more prosperous one. Using the DPA and your other executive powers in this manner won’t just help Ukraine, the rest of Europe, and the U.S. in the short term. It will preempt future crises sparked by oligarchs, strongmen, and the climate emergency, and position the U.S. to be a global leader in the just and renewable energy transition that will leave no worker behind.

    Sincerely,
 
 

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About

Events

Youth

Resources

Membership

Services

Connect

Subscribe to the Newsletter

Contact Information

  • Location
  • Address: ISNA’s physical address is: 6555 S. County Rd 750 E, Plainfield, 46168.
    Mailing Address: ISNA P.O. Box 38 Plainfield, IN 46168.
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Copyright – 2025 – ISNA – All rights reserved.