6 March, 2023 // CERAWeek Energy Conference, Houston, Texas

High-ranking Biden Administration officials including John Kerry, Presidential Envoy for Climate, and John Podesta, Senior Advisor to the President for Clean Energy, are in Houston at the major CERAWeek Energy Conference, planning for the global energy system of the future. 

At the international event, Ukrainian energy expert and activist Svitlana Romanko worked with activist John Beard, Founder of Port Arthur Community Action Network (PACAN) to deliver a formal letter calling for action to Biden's official, John Podesta, Senior Advisor to the President for Clean Energy. The letter requests support for critical issues related to resilience of energy supply in Ukraine and critical role of decentralized renewables for energy security.

Ukrainian Svitlana Romanko, Director of Ukrainian organization Razom We Stand, addressed the Biden Administration officials, telling them, “Now is the most urgent time for the Biden administration to put an end to the Russian fossil fuel dictatorship and fossil fuel company extremism and transform a global energy future, creating a plan to rebuild Ukraine with clean energy and tackle climate disruption. As we see from Russia's war on Ukraine, fossil fuels are not only causing massive climate disruption, but profits from Russian fossil fuel exports are funding Putin's war machine, and paying for thousands of brutal war crimes inflicted upon the people of my country. American companies are still cooperating with Russia, and the Biden administration must create a full and enforced embargo on russia. The US must also do all it can to stop the Russian Arctic LNG-2 project."

Ms. Romanko also had been shut out of the CERAWeek conference earlier in the day, but as she tried to find out why from conference staff, was told, "I can't answer why you were declined. It's a private event - people apply, if they are accepted they get the invitation and credentials, if they are declined - they do not and it's a private event", as documented in a video now on twitter: @SvitlanaRomanko. LINK TO  VIDEO

Ms. Romanko's messages this week included a list of priorities she insists CERAWeek attendees should be addressing. These include:

• Energy security must be based on decentralized clean energy sources, not fossil fuels
• Energy majors who advocate for new mega-gas projects are only spinning "fake security", which actually locks-in fossil fuel dependence for decades, and would create more fossil fuelled conflicts, and make Europe rely on an expensive energy source, when renewables have already become the cheapest energy source in 2022
• Ukraine, which has had over 40% of its energy infrastructure destroyed by Russia, is already planning to replace destroyed centralized fossil fuel energy production with cheaper, cleaner energy like wind and solar. This will make Ukraine a global leader in clean energy and rebuild Ukraine green.
• CERAWeek participants who work for the fossil fuel industry, and government must stop pushing for more climate disrupting fossil fuels, and embrace the clean energy future

-END-

Press Contacts:
Jason Kirkpatrick, [email protected], Snr. Communications Mgr., Razom We Stand

Notes to editors:
The formal letter calling for action is here, and was given to Biden's official, John Podesta, Senior Advisor to the President for Clean Energy.

Svitlana Romanko, has appeared in top-tier international press speaking on energy topics, including CNN, NBC, Washington Post, Bloomberg, BBC, Der Spiegel (Germany), and Le Monde (France). 
Professional photos of Svitlana Romanko are available here, copyright free unless otherwise noted on image. Ms. Romanko has been successful in influencing Ukraine government planning, supported by President Zelensky, to rebuild Ukraine's future energy system with clean energy.