As oil and gas prices worldwide continue to surge following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the dangers of relying on fossil fuels are clearer than ever. The United Statesannounced2022年3月8日,禁止俄罗斯石油和甲烷天然气进口,扩大了对俄罗斯的入侵施加的经济制裁。美国汽油价格在2022年3月11日达到顶峰,每加仑4.33美元,并继续徘徊在每加仑4.20美元以上,一年前高于每加仑1美元以上,according to AAA

更依赖俄罗斯石油和甲烷天然气进口的国家不愿将制裁扩展到俄罗斯的能源部门,因为担心俄罗斯是俄罗斯是对自己的公民和全球经济的影响world’s largest oil exporter. But additional sanctions are announced on nearly a daily basis as the war goes on.

一些国会议员提议在国内加强石油和甲烷天然气生产,以保护美国的能源安全,并使消费者负担得起。但是这种逻辑从根本上存在缺陷。It is impossible to significantly increase fossil fuel production in the short run, and we can only remove Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ability to use energy as a weapon by ending our dependence on oil and methane gas once and for all, as former Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus recently作证在参议院环境和公共工程委员会之前。我们现在可以采取一些步骤来加速在美国的过渡,同时减轻消费者的能源成本负担,并避免锁定更多的排放和dangerous climate change impacts they would bring

通过扩大国内化石燃料的产量来提高美国能源独立性的呼吁表明,人们普遍误解了导致全球石油市场价格波动的原因。美国生产的能源与消耗量一样多,国内石油产量近乎记录。但是,由于石油是一种全球商品,因此,当全球石油峰值价格上涨时,美国汽油消费者总是会受到巨大打击over $100 per barrel最近几天。即使美国没有购买一滴俄罗斯石油,也是100%的能源“独立”,这是正确的。

Other proposed solutions, such assuspending the federal gasoline tax简单asking oil companies从长远来看,这些提议不再起作用,这些建议将使固有的波动行业永存,并支持负责气候危机的化石燃料公司。必威官网是真的吗

So, what can we do to relieve consumers’ pain at the pump, boost our energy security and avoid a dangerous future for our children? Here are three things:

1)现在进行明智的投资,以加快我们向清洁能源经济的过渡。

我们需要将安装新的风力涡轮机和太阳阵列的速率加倍甚至三倍。这些也是我们最便宜的能源来源,因此用这些清洁能源代替化石燃料将为消费者节省资金,并在同时创造就业机会,因为它可以提高我们的能源安全并减少污染。

我们还需要投资升级传输和分配系统。我们需要存储和可调节的清洁生成选项的组合来建立100%清洁,可靠和负担得起的电力系统。

Electric vehicle charging station in Grand Canyon National Park
Electric vehicle charging station in Grand Canyon National Park. Increasing EVs' market share can reduce gas and electricity prices. Photo by Michael Quinn/National Park Service

2)扩大电动汽车(EV)税收抵免。

这不仅会使新的电动汽车所有者受益,而且还会降低所有人的汽油价格。由于电动汽车获得的市场份额也会降低石油需求的适度减少,也会对汽油价格下降压力。同时,只要公用事业为电动汽车驾驶员提供适当的激励措施,在电网不承受压力时,有时会为汽车充电,实际上电动汽车的电力销售增加了helps reduce electricity pricesbecause the fixed costs of the electricity system will be spread out across more kilowatt-hours.

3) Congress can provide immediate relief to American families.

Suspending bus and transit fares and providing an expanded earned income tax credit, childcare tax credit and/or direct relief checks of about $100 per month for each household (which is roughly equal to the increase in gasoline costs for the average family, comparing current prices to those in January 2021), would provide immediate relief to U.S. families. This could be paid for by imposing an excess profits tax on oil companies, as the United States did during World War II. Therecent successof the COVID-19 stimulus checks the federal government sent to millions of Americans illustrate the benefits of measures like this, which help give families maximum choice about how to manage their budgets.

为我们所有人确保安全的未来

每当主要的化石燃料生产商参与战争,或以其他方式破坏全球能源市场时,能源价格峰值对家庭和经济的影响就会引起重大关注。Instead of choosing responses that will perpetuate this problem, let’s instead invest in real solutions that bring massive economic benefits for Americans, improve U.S. energy security by reducing our dependence on volatile global oil markets, and reduce emissions to help prevent the most dangerous impacts of climate change.

本文的版本最初出现in The Hill.