THE ARSENAL OF FREEDOM:

Putin built his army on oil and gas earnings, and he's made Europe cower by threatening to turn off the energy spigot. Both can be addressed in part by the massive application of technology. The simple heat pump, for instance, which is basically a highly efficient air conditioner that also works in reverse, uses electricity to take the ambient heat from the outside air to warm a home.

Which means that if the United States delivers millions of heat pumps to Europe before October, then Putin's energy weapon would be much less potent. That's why five senators -- including both Massachusetts senators, Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren -- wrote to the White House last week asking President Biden to invoke the Defense Production Act and get America's air conditioner factories churning out the machines for immediate export.

As they put it, "With guaranteed federal contracts and other financial incentives, U.S. manufacturers will have the support they need to ramp up their production of electric heat pumps and key components -- creating thousands of jobs, boosting local economies, saving money for consumers, reducing unhealthy emissions, and destroying President Putin's oil and gas-based business model."

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