On the debate stage in 2020, President Biden emphatically promised to wage a war on American energy dominance:
“No more subsidies for fossil fuel energy, no more drilling on federal lands, no more drilling, including offshore. No ability for the oil industry to continue to drill. Period.”
Now that prices have skyrocketed 81% to a historic high since inauguration day, Biden and his administration have worked to deflect any responsibility for the pain at the pump Americans are feeling.
Rather than take responsibility for the consequences of his anti-American energy agenda, Biden is willing to beg other dictators and malign regimes to fill the gap of Russian oil and is using a new social media campaign to blame Putin for skyrocketing prices.
BIDEN’S ENERGY CRISIS BY THE NUMBERS:
The national average for a gallon of gas reached $4.28 on Thursday.
Gas prices over the past week are the highest in U.S. history.
U.S. crude oil is currently at $102.52.
Crude oil has remained above $90 a barrel, a 2014 record, for six straight weeks.
BIDEN’S WAR ON AMERICAN ENERGY:
Rather than unleash American energy and end his anti-energy policies, Biden said he “can’t do much right now” about skyrocketing prices.
Biden is choosing to release even more oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).
This move follows an SPR release of 50 million barrels of oil in November of 2021, which did nothing to prevent a spike in energy prices.
The SPR is supposed to be used for national security emergencies and major weather events, not for Biden to use as a political Hail Mary when his policies fail.
Biden is also reportedly asking Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and even Iran to replace Russian oil.
Biden began fulfilling his anti-energy promise on his first day in office, when he when he killed the Keystone XL pipeline, which could be supplying 830,000 thousand barrels of oil from Canada to U.S. refineries.
In his first week in office, President Biden issued an executive order suspending all oil and gas leasing on federal lands and waters.
While a federal judge ruled the leasing bans to be illegal, Biden’s administration has issued ZERO new leases on federal lands.
In May 2021, President Biden removed sanctions against Nord Stream 2, which were previously put in place by former President Trump.
In February 2022, President Biden reversed course and reimposed the Trump sanctions, noting the “overwhelming incentive to move away from Russian gas…”
President Biden’s Far-Left Socialist agenda, Build Back Better, was an effort to cripple domestic energy by increasing oil and gas production payments to 20%, increasing bonding and surety requirements to more than 15 times their current levels, imposing a new severance tax, and establishing new annual fees of $10,000 per mile for offshore pipelines.
President Biden’s FY22 Budget request explicitly opposed funding the construction or maintenance of projects that would lower the cost of gas, diesel, or energy derived from fossil fuels.
Biden’s Department of Energy has slow-walked liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports that could reduce Europe’s dependence on Russia.
ENDING RUSSIA’S ENERGY LEVERAGE (Courtesy of House Select Climate Committee):
President Biden imported an average of 198,000 barrels of crude oil per day from Russia in 2021 – a 160% increase from the previous year.
After banning Russian energy imports, Biden wants us to believe that begging other dictators is better than American energy – even though the U.S. has 38 billion barrels of proven oil reserves.
Europe currently gets 41% of its natural gas from Russia.
The Biden administration should immediately approve the six pending liquified natural gas (LNG) export applications – in addition to unleashing more of our proved reserves of natural gas (473.3 trillion cubic feet) – to help our allies.
Banning U.S. imports of Russian energy isn’t enough. America must increase energy production and exports to displace Russian energy in the market and provide our allies with affordable, reliable, and secure energy.
STEPS BIDEN SHOULD TAKE TODAY:
End Biden’s federal freeze on all new oil and gas projects
Fast-track pending LNG export permits
Expedite approval of all pipeline and energy development
Stop the regulatory assault on U.S. energy development and financing
MAKE NO MISTAKE: By working to keep his campaign promise of a war on American energy, Biden drove up energy prices for Americans. This is Biden’s price hike – no one else’s.