Public Comment

Europe has bought $338B in Russian energy since the invasion. But what is surprising is 30% of the gas is routed via pipelines in Ukraine for which it receives transit fees. In a bizarre catch-22, it was initially thought Ukraine could not shut off the gas because it might paralyze EU governments who refuse to implement a gas embargo. But a number of prominent German economists have challenged Germany’s gas embargo. Cutting off Russian gas would be painful in the near term but as the saying goes there is no gain without (short) term pain. 

Prominent European economists from the Bruegel Institute, the International Energy Agency and ECONtribute, a think tank sponsored by the Universities of Bonn and Cologne dismiss the prevailing German position that drastically cutting back on Russian gas would be catastrophic. The German Council of Economic Experts concurred. Freeing ourselves from dirty fuels would likely be the impetus for finding alternatives to dirty fuels and save our fragile planet from the devastating effects of climate change. Finally, if Germany fails to immediately implement a Russian gas embargo, Ukraine should turn off the spigot.