Arizona’s Sinema calls for both drilling and green technology to solve reliance on foreign oil

PHOENIX — Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema on Tuesday said the United States needs to change the narrative and promote both domestic drilling and renewable energy as a way to reduce the dependence on foreign oil.

“In order to meet both the national security and climate challenges we face in the future, we have to let go of that either or narrative and create an and narrative of how do we figure out how to do this ourselves,” Sinema, a Democrat, told KTAR News 92.3 FM.

The U.S. last month banned imports of gas and oil from Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, sending prices at the pump soaring.

Sinema agreed with the move, saying the U.S. shouldn’t give Russian President Vladimir Putin money to wage war with Ukraine.

However, she criticized the Biden administration regarding potential foreign imports from other troubled nations.

“The (Biden) administration recently suggested that they were going to reach out to Iran and Venezuela,” Sinema said. “Those are bad decisions because those are countries led by volatile leaders as well.

“What we have to do is actually increase American production in a way that is sustainable and efficient for the future.”

Sinema said the country has to be more thoughtful moving into the future and understand global conflicts are not likely to go away.

“What we have to do is become a more resilient system here in the U.S. so that we can meet our own energy needs,” she said.

Sinema added the war in Ukraine heightened the importance of the discussion on the dependence on foreign oil, but that the underlying need had already existed.

Biden in an effort to drive down gas prices announced Tuesday he was waiving rules that restrict ethanol blending. The move follows record releases from the strategic petroleum reserve.

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Taylor Tasler-Oatley and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Follow @TaDunham