US Legislators: To Punish Putin, Frack More

As the crisis in Ukraine continues, some U.S. legislators have pushed for exporting the nation’s natural gas to be used as a “weapon” or leverage point to weaken Russia and President Vladimir Putin’s influence on the region.

Yet others charge that this is an idea “untethered from reality.”

Ukraine is heavily dependent for natural gas on Russia’s state-owned Gazprom, though it has cut off that supply at times, most recently in 2009, while the fracking boom has made the U.S. the biggest natural gas producer.

Some on The Hill are saying that the U.S. should send off all this fracked gas via liquified natural gas (LNG) exports to loosen Russia’s grip, and that the Department of Energy should expedite approval of pending permits for LNG exports.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), for example, said that exporting more natural gas could “strengthen our economy here and our security here and abroad,” and that the “the only thing standing in the way are the bureaucrats in the Department of Energy.”

“Expediting approval of natural gas exports is one clear step the U.S. can take to stand by our allies and stand up to Russian aggression, while creating American jobs at the same time,” Boehner also said.