U.S., not Europe, to ban Russian petroleum products

[SteveG]

note: the U.S. has been warning to Europeans for decades not to cozy up and depend on Russia for energy supplies. They thought otherwise. (Merkel was the latest)

https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/08/politics/...index.html
President Joe Biden on Tuesday is expected to ban Russian oil, natural gas and coal imports to the US, according to three sources familiar with the decision.

The US will make the move unilaterally, without its European allies, due to disagreement among European nations about whether to ban Russian energy imports. EU countries have significantly more exposure to Russian energy than the US.
US officials decided, given the extreme political pressure at home, they could move without the coalition and not create major issues.

Biden is expected to address the new steps at 10:45 a.m. ET. Bloomberg was first to report the expected move.

[Ombligo]

So we are turning to Venezuela. A country that truly does not like the US. I could easily see them jacking up prices or canceling imports to us.

[hal]

I just love how the republicans are demanding we stop RU imports while simultaneously blaming Biden for high gas prices.

[Filliam H. Muffman]

How about having the oil companies drill on some of the 6,000 current leases in the US that don't have any operations?

[pdq]

hal wrote:
I just love how the republicans are demanding we stop RU imports while simultaneously blaming Biden for high gas prices.

As I noted in another thread, Paul Krugman in his latest NYT column:

Overall, then, the Putin-made energy crisis will be serious but probably not catastrophic. My biggest concern for the United States, at least, is political. You mightn’t think that Republicans could simultaneously demand that we stop buying Russian oil and attack President Biden for high gasoline prices. That is, you mightn’t think that if you’d spent the past 25 years sleeping in a cave. In fact, that’s exactly what’s about to happen.

It’s just what they do.

[Acer]

Republicans: $1 more a gallon for gas? Biden!
Also Republicans: $750 for a vial of insulin? Market forces!