By Bill McKibben, The Guardian, Feb. 25, 2022.<\/p>\n
After Hitler invaded the Sudetenland, America turned its industrial prowess to building tanks, bombers and destroyers. Now, we must respond with renewables<\/em><\/p>\n The pictures this morning of Russian tanks rolling across the Ukrainian countryside seemed both surreal \u2013 a flashback to a Europe that we\u2019ve seen only in newsreels \u2013 and inevitable. It\u2019s been clear for years that Vladimir Putin was both evil and driven and that eventually we might come to a moment like this.<\/p>\n One of the worst parts of facing today\u2019s reality is our impotence in its face. Yes, America is imposing sanctions, and yes, that may eventually hamper Putin. But the Russian leader made his move knowing we could not actually fight him in Ukraine \u2013 and indeed knowing that his hinted willingness to use nuclear weapons will make it hard to fight him anywhere, though one supposes we will have no choice if he attacks a Nato member.<\/p>\n But that doesn\u2019t mean there aren\u2019t ways to dramatically reduce Putin\u2019s power. One way, in particular: to get off oil and gas.<\/p>\n This is not a \u201cwar for<\/em> oil and gas\u201d in the sense that too many of America\u2019s Middle East misadventures might plausibly be described. But it is a war underwritten by oil and gas, a war whose most crucial weapon may be oil and gas, a war we can\u2019t fully engage because we remain dependent on oil and gas. If you want to stand with the brave people of Ukraine, you need to find a way to stand against oil and gas.<\/p>\n