Sierra Club Statement On RePowerEU Plan To Eliminate Russian Fossil Fuel Imports

BRUSSELS -- Today, European Union adopted its RePowerEU plan to begin eliminating Russian fossil fuel imports. RePowerEU will focus on increasing energy efficiency and demand savings, reducing bottlenecks for clean energy projects, and expanding solar energy, with the goal of cutting the EU’s fossil gas imports from Russia by two-thirds this year and the remaining one-third by 2027. At the same time, the EU also released its International Energy Strategy, which will partially focus on increasing imports of false solutions like blue hydrogen and fossil gas through deals with the US, Egypt, Israel, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Qatar, Japan, Korea, and other countries.

The previously announced US-EU task force laid out vague strategies to both expand the supply of US-produced gas to Europe and reduce Europe’s need for fossil fuels. Under the agreement, the EU will also work with its Member States to facilitate the construction of new and expanded gas import facilities and guarantee demand for US fossil gas through 2030. New LNG infrastructure typically has a lifespan of at least 20 years, so any investments in new infrastructure will lock in the use of fossil fuels for decades. Experts agree that in order to achieve the Biden administration’s climate goals and heed the recent IPCC Working Group reports calling for an end to climate emissions, we need to halt fossil fuel expansion immediately and global LNG trade must start declining by 2025. 

In response, the Sierra Club’s International Climate and Policy Campaign Director Cherelle Blazer issued the following statement: 

“The European Union made clear this morning that energy independence and energy security go hand-in-hand with increasing access to clean, renewable energy and focusing on energy efficiency and savings. In a time of increased global energy insecurity and faced with calls from the world’s top scientists to take decisive and unprecedented action to halt climate catastrophe, the RePowerEU plan is setting up the European Union to take such action. Yet, despite the promising focus of RePowerEU, the European Union is simultaneously planning to begin importing oil and gas from numerous other countries which will lock in new fossil fuel infrastructure and continue the cycle of unstable fossil fuel dependence. The EU has the momentum and the opportunity to heed the IPCC’s dire warning and fully secure energy independence by investing in clean energy and energy efficiency and begin phasing out all fossil fuel imports and use once and for all.”

In response, the Sierra Club’s Senior Director of Energy Campaigns Kelly Sheehan issued the following statement: 

“This new plan from the EU affirms that now is a critical moment to invest in a rapid transition to affordable clean energy, not double down on fossil fuels. The gas industry is seeking to use the current geopolitical turmoil to justify a massive expansion of new fossil fuel infrastructure, but it's clear that new gas export facilities would fail to address short-term energy needs and would only serve to lock in decades of reliance on dirty fossil fuels at a time when our climate and communities can least afford it. The Biden administration must not fall for the industry’s false solutions, and instead prioritize investments in energy efficiency and clean, renewable energy.”