Janet Yellen (Treasury Secretary) stated Friday that the United States had to move faster towards renewable energy sources. If we did, it would have put the country in a better place to deal with climate change.

Andrew Ross Sorkin, CNBC asked Yellen if the emphasis on ESG needs to be suspended due to national security concerns that ESG is “either creating or having created.” International bans of Russian oil following the Russian invasion in Ukraine have led to higher energy pricesFor example,

I don’t believe that climate change and the ESG movement are creating these problems. If anything the problem is that we haven’t moved as rapidly as we should have,” Yellen told Sorkin in an interview that aired on “Squawk Box” Friday.

Yellen claimed that the United States and Europe would not be as affected by the tensions this conflict puts on their energy markets if they had a greater reliance on renewables. As medium- and long-term goals, this is still a good idea.

Solar energy is also a renewable energy source.

Yellen stated that the United States would be able to reduce their dependence on Russian oil in the short-term, allowing them “to punish Russia” for the invasion of Ukraine, and “degrade the influence and power of Russia” in the global economy.

Jennifer Granholm, Secretary of Energy, spoke earlier in March to CERAWeek energy executives and asked them questions. increase oil production.

“We are on a war footing—an emergency—and we have to responsibly increase short-term supply where we can right now to stabilize the market and to minimize harm to American families,” Granholm said.

JPMorgan Chase’s CEO will be on Monday Jamie DimonBiden told that the United States must create a Marshall Plan for its domestic energy production.

Dimon asked for more European liquid natural gas and the development of other energy sources, such as hydrogen or carbon capture. He also called for a wider reduction in Russian energy. according to Axios, which first reported the news.

Yellen recognized that Europe will have to reduce its dependence upon Russian energy very quickly. On Friday, President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a joint task forceA plan to reduce European dependence upon Russian natural gas will address this problem. It will aim to diversify the supply of liquid natural gases and lower natural gas demand.

Yellen acknowledged that such “enhanced collaboration” can help but it’s impossible to eradicate all dependence this year.

Yellen said to Sorkin that it was even more crucial for the United States not to lose sight of climate goals and a shift to clean energy, as the Russian war has had a significant impact on energy markets both domestically and internationally.

According to Yellen, Sorkin, “If anything it just reinforces our dependence upon global markets for natural gas and oil. It also emphasizes how important it is to make the transition that will safeguard us from Russia’s events, global developments, that may negatively affect oil markets.”

“You want to really move…all of us, United States and our allies to rapidly move to renewables that can give us a safer, more independent energy picture.”