President Biden rightfully extolled what he and Congress have accomplished to invigorate a clean energy economy in his State of the Union address. 

Driven in part by the certainty created by the Inflation Reduction Act and its incentives to build the clean energy future here at home, the Infrastructure Jobs Act and the President’s use of the Defense Production Act, American companies restored almost 350,000 manufacturing jobs in 2022—a 25 percent increase from 2021. As of January 31, 2023, over 90 new clean energy projects in small towns and bigger cities nationwide are underway – totaling $89.5 billion in new investments.

“Elected Officials to Protect America applaud President Biden’s leadership in building the road to a clean energy economy. What we do at home, must be replicated abroad. There is no better place to start than helping Ukraine rebuild with a clean energy infrastructure. Transitioning off of fossil fuels that are manipulated by autocrats like Putin must become a thing of the past. We need a Green Marshall Plan for Ukraine for the world’s security, “said Dominc Frongillo, Executive Director Elected Officials to Protect America.

EOPA has a letter which over 1,000 elected officials signed urging a Presidential Climate Emergency Declaration in support of a 100 percent clean energy economy..

A recent analysis by the BlueGreen Alliance and the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst projects that the Inflation Reduction Act will create over 9 million clean energy and climate-related jobs over the next decade.

By highlighting the plight of Ukraine, President Biden focused our attention on how important it is for countries to become independent from their use of fossil fuels for their democratic security.

Now EOPA says we need a Ukraine Green Marshall Plan to help Ukraine rebuild a clean energy economy with the security of knowing that they won’t be vulnerable to oil and gas fluctuations, and the dangers of being dependent on fossil fuels ever again. The original Marshall Plan was an audacious, innovative strategy, and provided Europe with the stimulus needed to rapidly rebuild after World War II.

“It would be inhumane to wait for the end of the war as millions of Ukrainians are suffering in frigid winter temperatures without electricity. Already 7 million souls have been forced to leave Ukraine,” said Christin Brock, CEO, Elected Officials to Protect America,  Air Force veteran. “We need world security and that starts with clean energy security. Right now, we can rebuild the infrastructure that has been hit by drones and missiles with smart microgrids, and make them more resilient.”

America’s six LNG plants are already at capacity and it takes years and billions of dollars to expand capacity. Europe has been using 500 billion cubic meters of gas, of which 40 percent came from Russia. Even shifting U.S. production from Asia only adds 15 billion cubic meters above the 22 billion cubic meters the U.S. provided last year. 

Additionally, OPEC is still deliberately supplying less oil than it can – keeping prices artificially high. Every single OPEC nation, and most of the OPEC Plus nations, use authoritarian methods to control their populations and exert global influence. They can do this because currently, democracies are dependent on this single source of polluting fossil fuel energy. 

“We can not simply increase oil and gas production to address this international security threat as it will take too long to ramp up fossil fuel production to meet the crisis, while creating other serious dangers,” said Alexander Cornell du Houx, President Elected Officials to Protect America, former ME state representative, former combat Marine. “Removing our dependence on fossil fuels is the single most impactful action we can do to undercut authoritarian regimes.Using fossil fuels only exacerbates the climate crisis. It keeps democratic nation’s dependent on autocratic nations. Clean energy is the only rapid solution for a secure sustainable global economy.”

Alarmingly, but unsurprisingly, the U.A.E. and Saudi Arabia declined a call from President Biden at the start of the war in Ukraine but accepted Putin’s call. Even with the overwhelming evidence of war crimes, oil-producing autocratic nations either abstained or voted in favor of Russia staying on the U.N. Human Rights Council.

Elected Officials to Protect America is a network of current and former elected officials who care deeply about protecting the planet and people. EOPA is committed to solving the climate crisis, ensuring environmental justice, and protecting our lands and waters. EOPA educates through value-based storytelling, training lawmakers, and connecting elected officials to inspire strong environmental leadership.