1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Las Americas Energy Security Act . 2. Findings; purpose; statement of policy (a) Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Energy independence and security are critical for a country to maintain its sovereignty, independence, and sustainable economic growth. (2) The International Energy Agency ( IEA ) defines energy security as the uninterrupted availability of energy sources at an affordable price. (3) The IEA defines long-term energy security as primarily dealing with timely investments to supply energy in line with economic developments and environmental needs. (4) The IEA defines short-term energy security as focusing on the ability of a country’s energy system to react promptly to sudden changes in the supply-demand balance. (5) The IEA’s Executive Director remarked in February 2023 that Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine had sparked an ongoing global energy crisis with serious implications for international energy security. (6) The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a United Nations body that provides regular assessments on global heating, issued a synthesis report in March 2023, and found that the effects of global temperature changes were “already affecting many weather and climate extremes in every region across the globe,” which has “led to widespread adverse impacts on food and water security, human health and on economies and society and related losses and damages to nature and people.”. (7) The IPCC notes that to avoid mounting loss of life, biodiversity, and infrastructure, we must have ambitious, accelerated action to adapt to climate change, while also making rapid, deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. (8) The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate in Latin America and the Caribbean 2021 report found that— (A) widespread drought across Latin America and the Caribbean has had significant impact on inland shipping routes, crop yields, and food production, and consequently led to worsening food insecurity