Senator Marco Rubio recently introduced a bill that would impose severe sanctions on Russia if it continues to meddle in American elections.
The Senator means well. But the sanctions are so broad they'd damage America's economy -- even more so than Russia's. Our oil and natural gas industry would bear the brunt of this damage.
Let's hope Sen. Rubio is willing to return to the drawing board and design a sanctions package that pummels Putin -- not Floridians from Pensacola to Palm Beach.
Sen. Rubio's bill, which he is co-sponsoring with Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), is known as the Deter Act -- short for the Defending Elections from Threats by Establishing Redlines Act. It would require the Treasury Department to impose sanctions on Russia if the U.S. Director of National Intelligence detects election meddling.
The Act targets key Russian industries -- especially the oil and gas sector. The sanctions would force any American firms involved in joint ventures with Russian companies to exit those projects.
American companies that manufacture pipeline equipment, for example, wouldn't be able to work on projects with even minimal Russian involvement. Forbidding joint Russian-American energy ventures would cost the American energy sector up to $100 billion over the next decade.
Take ExxonMobil's joint venture with Rosneft, a government-owned Russian oil company. The project, known as Sakhalin 1, could extract more than 2 billion barrels of oil and 17 trillion cubic feet of natural gas off Russia's eastern shore. If the Deter Act becomes law, Exxon may have to abandon the project and forego billions in revenue -- money that could otherwise be invested in the American economy.
The sanctions wouldn't simply prohibit American companies from operating within Russia. They would jeopardize any project -- no matter its location -- if it involves Russian companies or passes through Russian territory.
The consequences of killing American energy projects would reverberate throughout Florida's economy.
Thanks to fracking and increased offshore drilling, the United States is now the global leader in oil and natural gas production. The glut of natural gas has driven down prices. In 2017, Florida's power plants paid $4.31, on average, per 1000 cubic feet of gas. A decade earlier, the same amount of natural gas cost more than $9.
If American companies are blocked from embarking on new energy ventures, production would eventually drop and prices may spike once again.
The Deter Act could also kill jobs. The oil and natural gas industry supports more than 250,000 Florida jobs -- many of which would be lost if energy firms are forced to pull out of projects.
Worst of all, there's no evidence such sanctions would actually deter meddling.
The United States and its allies levied sanctions on Russia in 2014 for invading Crimea. Russian hackers responded by infiltrating German, Dutch, Ukrainian, and Finnish databases. And of course, they attempted to influence the U.S. 2016 election.
What can Congress do to counter Russian aggression without hurting Americans? One solution is a narrower set of sanctions introduced last year. The Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act of 2017, which has yet to be fully implemented, would make exceptions for certain energy export pipelines and railways that cross Russia and only affect future oil projects.
It's time for Congress to find a more targeted way to push back against Russian aggression.
Jennifer S. Carroll served as the 18th Lieutenant Governor of Florida. This piece originally ran in the Orlando Sentinel.
