Elon Musk touted the global need for more oil, natural gas, and nuclear power as the current global energy crisis stokes fears about the upcoming winter.

The billionaire CEO of Tesla recently spoke to European energy leaders at a conference in Norway and urged them to focus on producing legacy power sources despite recent efforts to transition to renewable energy.

The assembly of oil-company executives, energy analysts, and government officials met to assess strategies for how they plan to meet future global energy demand.

“I think we actually need more oil and gas, not less,” said Musk.

“We should simultaneously move as fast as we can to a sustainable energy economy,” he added.

The global energy supply has been under pressure since Russia’s war in Ukraine began earlier this year. Many European nations have sought to reduce trade with Russia, a major exporter of energy, thereby tightening their energy supplies and causing natural gas and electricity prices to surge to record high levels.

Musk also urged Europe to maintain the use of nuclear energy.

“I know this may be an unpopular view in some quarters. But I think if you have a well-designed nuclear power plant, you should not shut it down, especially right now,” said Musk.

His comments follow Germany’s stalled efforts at winding down its domestic nuclear power production amid the punishing energy crunch. The country had to restart operations at three of its nuclear power plants to avoid significant energy disruptions.

While Musk believes more oil, natural gas, and nuclear power should be used to avoid a worsening energy crisis this winter, “clean-energy” supporters are pushing back on the notion.

Fatih Birol, executive director of the Paris-based International Energy Agency, claimed it would be a mistake to remove blame from Russia for allegedly causing the high costs and scarce energy supply.

“Claiming that this energy crisis is a result of clean-energy ambitions may then help the responsible country, Russia, [move] away from the spotlight as a cause of the current crisis,” said Birol. “This winter will be a test for European solidarity.”

Whatever the case, citizens in European counties are scrambling to prepare for a potential energy scare winter by hoarding firewood to burn as colder weather begins to set in.