Embargo is the right thing to do!/de

There are many good reasons for an energy embargo against Russia. Here are some of them:

Ethical

• “Open letter from Ukraine: Dear Germans, aren't you ashamed?" states that if Germany does not stop financing the Russian aggressor it forfeits its promise to never again doing fascist aggression Bystrytsky, Yevhen (2022). "Offener Brief aus der Ukraine: Liebe Deutsche, schämen Sie sich nicht? - WELT". Retrieved 2022-03-14.
• "„Es geht um das Überleben unserer freiheitlichen Lebensweise"". bpö. 2022-03-05. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
• Hypocrisy of sending Euros to autoconversion accounts: Neubacher, A. (2022), Gazprombank, Uniper und das K-Konto: So rollt der Rubel, zwinker, zwinker – Kolumne, retrieved 5 June 2022

Ecological

• Cheap fossil fuels has been detrimental for the energy transition by making renewables less economically attractive. Cheap coal seduced many big companies to use dirty tricks instead of investing in solar and wind farms. Cheap natural gas, in combination with artificially inflated electricity prices, has prevented electrification in industry, small businesses and home heating (heat pumps). Cheap oil (and hence petrol and diesel) delayed the adoption of electric cars. Because of the populist politics in the last decades, there is no more time left for the gradual transition. A swift, radical change is necessary to avoid climate crisis,. Energy embargo will enforce this change by reducing the availability of fossil fuels.

• In particular, natural gas (aka methane) has a global warming impact 84 times higher than CO2 over a 20-year period. Therefore, IPCC concluded that “strong, rapid and sustained reductions” in methane emissions are needed in addition to slashing CO2 in the next two decades..

Pragmatic

• Europe has announced its plans to move away from Russian fossil fuels, and Russia has announced to redirect their exports towards Asia. However, the timeline is important. If we want to hit Russia hard, we must stop all fossil fuels imports IMMEDIATELY. If we wait for several months or even years, Russia will use this time to adapt, e.g. to build gas pipelines to China. And we will pay for these pipelines with our gas bills!

• Immediate and complete embargo on Russia - ideally in the first days after invasion to Ukraine - would have demonstrated the strength of Western democracies. This is the only language Putin understands. Delays, loopholes, national egoism and industrial lobbyism are signs of political weakness. Putin would never miss a chance to exploit weaknesses, and that's exactly what he is doing now.

• If we do not get rid of dependency on Russian energy ourselves by imposing an immediate embargo, Putin will be free to do it at his earliest convenience. He is (once again) using energy as weapon, trying to blackmail and humiliate us with demands to pay in ruble and abrupt supply interruption.

• Western politicians seem to prefer if Putin would cut energy supply, because in this case they would not be responsible for the short-term economical hardships that will follow. However, the long-term consequences of this cowardliness are much more severe. First, there is a moral responsibility for not doing everything possible to prevent death and suffering, Second, it is a failure to prove that any country which breaks the international law in such a horrible way, will be completely isolated and destroyed economically. This is extremely dangerous for stability and peace in the whole world.