Elon Musk, founder and CEO of Space X and Tesla, has called for an increase in American oil and gas production amid rising oil prices due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In a statement posted to Twitter on Friday, Musk said, “Hate to say it, but we need to increase oil & gas output immediately. Extraordinary times demand extraordinary measures.”
Musk has historically been unafraid to make his opinions known in the public arena. He has also recently been openly critical of Joe Biden and his administration. He accused Biden of “sleeping” in a 2021 tweet and most recently decried Biden’s decision to leave Tesla out of an electric vehicles summit for the second time.
Amid a heated Eastern European conflict that has pitted Russian President Vladimir Putin against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, prices on Russia-imported oil have skyrocketed.
President Donald Trump commented on this phenomenon during his CPAC speech in February in Orlando, Florida. “This is the only attack in history…the further he [Putin] goes…the more money he makes, because oil prices keep climbing higher and higher and higher,” Trump pointed out. “It’s a disincentive for him to disengage.”
As oil prices from Russia continue to skyrocket, many conservative critics of Biden’s policies are quick to point out that his administration killed the Keystone XL Pipeline. According to a report from CBN News, the project would have delivered 35 million gallons of Canadian crude to U.S.-based refineries every day when it was finished.
Now, the U.S. is dependent foreign oil and gas.
Musk’s statement, which called for an increase in domestic oil and gas production, is surprising because Tesla exclusively focuses on electric cars. “Obviously, this would negatively affect Tesla,” Musk tweeted, “but sustainable energy solutions simply cannot react instantaneously to make up for Russian oil & gas exports.”
