MIDLAND U.S. Congressman August Pfluger (R-San Angelo) was in the Permian Basin Wednesday to talk about the Midland over Moscow Act.
Pfluger, who represents the Texas 11th Congressional District, detailed the plans from the legislation as he talked to members of the media.
He gave a few remarks before answering questions during a press conference outside the Petroleum Museum in Midland.
The congressman outlined his Midland over Moscow act by saying that it would “strengthen U.S. energy independence and make United States allies less dependent on Russian oil and gas.”
Pfluger talked about the growing tensions on the Russian and Ukraine border as the threat of an invasion of Russian troops continues to grow.
“The reason why this (legislation) is important is because today, through 2021 and ‘22, we’re facing threats everywhere,” Pfluger said during the opening of the press briefing. “The highest degree of threats that we have seen since World War II. We have cyber threats and terror threats. We have Russia threatening to invade the Ukraine and the threat of China possibly taking Taiwan at some point. The environment that we’re facing requires extreme strength and vigilance. The tools that we have at our disposal are our economy, our military, the ability for us to do business all around the world and support our allies.”
Pfluger outlined three key things that the Midland over Moscow Act will do.
He said the first part is that the legislation will “seek to mandate an energy security plan from the White House.”
“We want President Joe Biden to tell us what his plan is to not only protect American energy but to have a strategy so that we can use it fully for the value that it is,” Pfluger said. “It is an instrument of power. It is national security. I’ve said it a thousand times: energy security is a national security. We’re calling on the president to tell us his plan and fully using and leveraging energy security as a national security tool.”
The second part of the legislation, Pfluger said, would halt the Nord Stream Pipeline which is a 1,200-kilometer pipeline under the Baltic Sea which takes gas from the Russian coast near St. Petersburg, Russia to Lubmin in Germany.
Pfluger talked about his discussion with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who took office in May, 2019.
“In my discussion with President Zelenskyy and other high-ranking officials in the Ukraine, they said that if Nord Stream didn’t exist, the threat of invasion would not be happening,” Pfluger said. “The Midland over Moscow legislation is extremely important as the world watches and waits what (Russian President) Vladimir Putin does with the Ukraine. The leverage that Putin has by building the Nord Stream pipeline by having it greenlit by President Biden while he canceled our own Keystone Pipeline, is absolutely egregious. He’s put Russia and Russian interests ahead of the United States and it has allowed Russia to put a chokehold on eastern European energy access. The world is watching and this is a tool and a leverage point that Putin can use against Ukraine. Zelenskyy told me that his borders matter and their security for it. Without Nord Stream and that leverage, Russian and Putin would not have that ability to be contemplating a possible invasion.”
In the third part of the legislation, Pfluger said it’ll “advocate for more market access, opening market access around the world to ship our products to places that’ll need it the most.”
“A billion people have been lifted out of poverty and this bill will allow for more access for our products to go to more places,” Pfluger said. “As it ties into a national security plan and an energy security plan and halts the Nord Stream plan, I want to take Permian Basin product and make sure that our partners and allies understand that they can use it to diversify their need so they’re not beholden to Russia or China.”
Pfluger was elected to Congress in November, 2020, defeating Democrat Jon Mark Hogg and Libertarian Wacey Cody, winning over 79.7 percent of the vote.
He says he’s been working on this legislation since day one.
“Pieces and parts of it have come together,” Pfluger said. “I’ve coined the phrase Midland over Moscow before and now we’re putting different pieces and parts together. We want it all to tie together to stop the weakness that we see (and) to enhance production and to make sure our partners and allies have access to energy.
“Everywhere you see, every partner around the world, especially in Europe, are asking for more U.S. energy. They know that it’s the cleanest burning and (most) efficient energy that they know. They know we do it with the highest human rights standard. When Russia produces energy, it’s the dirtiest energy and the human rights violations are the most egregious around the world. Same for the Chinese This not only helps our economy, it strengthens our security and that of our allies.”
