Biden official says food shortages will push farmers to green energy: 'Never let a crisis go to waste'
She echoed other Biden officials viewing Russia's war with Ukraine as opportunity for their energy agenda
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A top Biden official said Sunday that the global food shortage crisis would push farmers toward relying on more green energy.
"Never let a crisis go to waste," U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Chief Samantha Power told ABC's George Stephanopoulos on "This Week."
Speaking of the global consequences of Russia’s war with Ukraine, the Biden official said that fertilizer shortages would provide farmers the opportunity to "hasten" their "transition" from fertilizer to more "natural" resources.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}ENERGY SEC. GRANHOLM: UKRAINE CRISIS PROVIDES ‘URGENT MOMENT’ FOR CONGRESS TO ACT ON ‘CLEAN ENERGY’
"Fertilizer shortages are real now because Russia is a big exporter of fertilizer. Even though fertilizer is not sanctioned, less fertilizer is coming out of Russia," she explained. "As a result we're working with countries to think about natural solutions like manure and compost and this may hasten transitions that would have been in the interest of farmers to make eventually anyway. So never let a crisis go to waste."
Power added that the administration was still asking Congress to pass more relief. Last week, President Biden requested an additional $33 billion from Congress for military and humanitarian assistance for Ukraine.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"But we really do need this financial support from the Congress to be able to meet emergency food needs, so we don't see the cascading deadly effects of Russia's war extend into Africa and beyond," she said.
President Biden's Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm made similar remarks back in March, pushing for Congress to use this crisis to pass "clean energy" legislation and to "wean off" fossil fuels.
U.S. Oil and Gas Association President Tim Stewart told Fox News that Biden's energy policies will increase the oil crisis. (AP Photo/Alex Brand | Cole Burston/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
"This crisis in Europe, and the crisis our allies are facing and the reduction of supply of natural gas and oil from Russia creates a moment that we should be acting," she said at a clean energy summit.
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In March, President Biden warned there were going to be "real" food shortages, following U.S. sanctions placed on Russia due to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
"With regard to food shortage, yes we did talk about food shortages, and it's gonna be real," Biden said to the press at a NATO summit in Belgium.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The president faced criticism from Republicans like Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana and former energy secretary Rick Perry, who blame the Biden administration's push to end fossil fuels as a big reason for rising gas prices.