Tipsheet

Ahead of Climate Change Summit, Biden Begs Russia to Pump More Oil

President Joe Biden is Glasgow this week for the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties. Back at home, gas prices are on the rise and Americans are bracing for a very expensive winter. 

During remarks ahead of the conference in Rome Sunday, Biden again called on other countries -- including Russia and Saudi Arabia -- to pump more oil. He did not mention restarting the Keystone XL pipeline or ending his freeze on federal drilling leases. 

"When the cost of a gallon of gasoline gets to above three hundred and, three hundred, $3.35 a gallon, it has profound impact on working-class families just to get back and forth to work.  So, I don't see anything inconsistent with that," Biden said. "But I do think that the idea that Russia and Saudi Arabia and other major producers are not going to pump more oil so people can have gasoline to get to and from work, for example, is, is, is not, is not right."

Meanwhile, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters Monday the Biden Administration plans to dump $3 billion in climate "investments" by 2024, with another $100 billion per year in "climate finance" for the UN.

"The United States is coming today with a significant new initiative -- this PREPARE initiative -- which involves multiple times more investment and adaptation than we've ever done before, billions of dollars a year by 2024 -- $3 billion a year by 2024," Sullivan detailed. "In addition to the President closing in on the target of these massive investments at home in the Build Back Better Initiative and the infrastructure initiative he talked about in this press conference last night, that will show that the United States is actually putting its money where its mouth is, in terms of hitting its own climate commitments."

"And then finally, part of Paris was a commitment by developed nations to developing nations that we would mobilize $100 billion a year in climate finance internationally.  And the President, at the U.N. General Assembly, announced a doubling of the U.S. commitment, which will mean that the United States is contributing its share to hit that $100 billion figure," Sullivan continued.