Inhofe to Obama: Here’s how to ‘turn the tables’ on Putin

Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) on Monday urged the Obama administration to approve sales of liquified natural gas to Lithuania to help the country break its dependency on Russia.

Inhofe, a member of the Senate Armed Services and Environment and Public Works committees, recently attended the inauguration of Lithuania’s first import facility for liquified natural gas (LNG). In a letter to President Obama, Inhofe said the the facility marks an important step for European allies as they seek to “free themselves from the grip and influence of Russia.”

{mosads}”The strong arm of Russia’s energy exports enables the nation to act as a bully to many of our strongest allies, and it is threatening energy embargoes if political steps are taken that President Putin does not like,” he wrote.

Inhofe noted that allies in Eastern Europe are bolstering their energy infrastructure with additional LNG import terminals and pipeline capacity.

“With that in mind, it is now our responsibility to supply their demand with American natural gas,” he said.

Inhofe is a longtime supporter of exporting domestic LNG, which would benefit natural gas producers in Oklahoma.

He applauded the administration’s steps to approve permits for facilities to export liquified natural gas to countries that the United States does not have a free trade agreement with.

“Global demand for LNG is expanding, and the more LNG the United States makes available, the more quickly we will be able to turn the tables on President Putin and ensure the energy security of our friends and allies around the world,” he said in Monday’s letter.