Market analysts track the price of a barrel of oil. Politicians highlight the price for consumers at the pump. In an oil-driven economy, reports on the cost of oil, found in near-daily headlines, focus on the economic cost of oil but fundamentally fail to focus on the moral cost of oil. Within the past month, two seemingly unrelated events brought into focus the moral cost of oil. The first event occurred on the floor of the U.S. Senate, the other in the capital of Venezuela thirty days later. Both beg the question, what is the true price of oil?

On January 3, after a concerted campaign in the Fall to pressure Venezuela through boat strikes, blockades, and seizures of oil tankers in the region, the U.S. military seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, bringing him to the U.S. to stand trial. Seven U.S. service members suffered injuries and a reported 100 Venezuelans were killed.

Venezuela, which sits on vast oil reserves, has long been a focus of the U.S. What started decades ago with sanctions related to human rights and democracy in Venezuela, has turned, in the second Trump Administration, into a near singular focus on confiscating Venezuelan oil. President Trump has stated that the U.S. will “run” Venezuela and proceeds from Venezuelan oil sales will benefit the U.S. But at what cost?

What didn’t make major headlines was the fact that thirty days prior, on December 4, 2025, the U.S. Senate voted to overturn a Biden Administration rule limiting oil and gas development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Arctic Refuge, comprising 19 million acres in northeast Alaska and home to the Porcupine caribou and the native Gwich’in people, has long been in contention between those who would protect the land as sacred and those who would like to utilize it as a means for more oil and gas. The moral questions regarding the fate of the Arctic Refuge center on the spiritual and physical wellbeing of all those who call the land home.

The Senate’s December vote capped years of tireless efforts by the Gwich’in to preserve the land, which they regard as sacred. The Gwich’in people, many of whom are also members of the Episcopal Church, are dependent on the health of the Arctic Refuge and of the Porcupine caribou in order to maintain their culture and way of life.

Within the Arctic Refuge are the birthing grounds for the Porcupine caribou herd, known to the Gwich’in as “Iizhik Gwats’an Gwandaii Goodlit” or “The Sacred Place Where Life Begins.” The caribou are also an important food source for the Gwich’in people. Drilling for oil on this sacred part of God’s creation would lead to food insecurity and the forced exile of the Gwich’in community.

In both the Arctic Refuge and in Venezuela, the desire for control of oil has spanned decades and numerous U.S. administrations. The rationale, often centered around economic growth or national security, never addresses our moral obligations to our fellow human beings or to God’s creation. 

Faith communities across the U.S. have responded negatively to both recent events, understanding that whatever moral compass has to justify both actions is off kilter, or perhaps absent altogether. More than 13,000 faith leaders and people of faith urged the Trump Administration to reverse course and protect the sacred lands in the Arctic Refuge. These faith leaders recognized the moral failing of supplanting local and indigenous rights in Alaska in favor of oil industry exploration and drilling. Numerous faith leaders, including those from the Episcopal Church, United Church of Christ and Disciples of Church, expressed concern for the raid on Venezuela. 

In the backdrop of recent events focused on oil acquisition by the U.S., is an Administration and its Congressional allies dedicated to stopping advances in clean energy. From wind power to solar projects, the U.S. is de-investing in renewable energy. 

The cost of these actions is clear: energy affordability and human health. A Brookings Institute study found that moving to clean, renewable energy would reduce energy prices by at least 20%. And, as reported in the 2021 World Economic Forum, air pollution from fossil fuels already costs each American an average of $2,500 a year in extra medical bills. 

There is widespread recognition among faith groups that our country, which was recently on a path to cleaner and more renewable energy, has taken a hard turn back in time towards fossil fuel energy. While economists can reckon with the market impact of these actions, people of faith must grapple with the morality of returning to an energy system that has severe consequences on human health, justice, and the wellbeing of God’s creation. A faithful responsibility, as spelled out across many faith traditions, is to not only care for the Earth but to care for our fellow human beings who call this earth home. 

Actions in Venezuela and the Arctic Refuge are driven by this turn away from clean energy and away from a path not taken. A path that could have not only protected human health and the wellbeing of all creation, but also disarmed the violent patterns that often accompany the quest for oil. The focus on conventional oil and gas instead of clean energy robs us of a future that is grounded in our call to steward God’s creation and love one another. It is time to attach a moral compass to our energy policies and confront the true cost of oil in our country.