Rep. Smith : 'Florida's People are Losing" With Biden's Russian Oil Buys

TALLAHASSEE—During debate on Rep. Anna Eskamani’s “Florida’s People Lose Act” (FPL), Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith (D) took the floor to rail against Florida energy giant Florida Power & Light's (FPL) alleged power grab around the state, but at the same took a big swipe at President Joe Biden’s energy initiative.

According to Rep. Smith, President Biden’s energy policy is a “losing” issue for Floridians.

“If we increase our dependency on Russian fossil fuels, that means Florida’s people are losing,” said Rep. Smith.

Rep. Smith’s remark is an apparent dig at the Biden administration’s continued efforts to buy foreign oil, particularly the crude oil from Russia.

Congressional Republicans have ripped into President Biden for all but shutting down domestic oil production while at the same time, indirectly funding Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine by continuing to buy Russian oil.

The Biden administration had levied significant sanctions against Russia but has refused to sanction that nation’s energy sector, which makes up most of Russia’s gross revenues.

The White House says that they reserve the right to shut down oil purchases from Russia, but are waiting to see if the situation in Ukraine gets worse.

In 2021, Biden brought in 199,000b/d (barrels per day ) of Russian crude oil in 2021.

During former President Donald Trump’s last year in office, the U.S. cut down Russian oil intake to only 76,000 barrels per day.

President Trump supported energy companies like FPL, Chevron, and Exxon, to further explore U.S. energy production while pushing for the country to be less reliant on foreign energy.