As their positions conflict, Joe Biden and his staff seem to be confused about where they stand at the moment.
Biden wrote a threat letter to energy companies, demanding they produce more oil. He also suggested consequences for those who did not. This is a sign of communism. Exxon responded back, essentially saying that he had no idea what he was talking about — it was a very polite, “you’re full of it.” They said that they kept producing through the pandemic, even though they lost billions in the process. But that the real answer is consistent government policy that allows for stable growth — the opposite of what Biden has done.
Specific to refining capacity in the U.S., we’ve been investing through the downturn to increase refining capacity to process U.S. light crude by about 250,000 barrels per day – the equivalent of adding a new medium-sized refinery. Even though we suffered losses of more than $20billion and were forced to borrow $30 billion, we kept investing to expand our capacity in the face of post-pandemic demand.
In the short term, the U.S. government could enact measures often used in emergencies following hurricanes or other supply disruptions — such as waivers of Jones Act provisions and some fuel specifications to increase supplies. Government can encourage investment over the long term by establishing a clear, consistent policy to support U.S. resource-development, including regular, predictable lease sales and simplified regulatory approval.
Now, we already noted that Biden’s climate czar John Kerry wasn’t on the same page, claiming that there was no need to drill more.
On Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre attacked the oil companies for not producing enough — telling them to “stop blaming the war” — which is ironic, given that’s all that Joe Biden does. She demanded that they be “patriotic” and come up with more.
But on Thursday, when Fox’s Peter Doocy asked Jean-Pierre if this meant that the Biden team was backing off their stated goal of ending fossil fuels, she said no. They were still intent on stopping fossil fuels, and that they “don’t need” to drill.
Doocy: “I know the President once said he’s going to end fossil fuels. Is that now off the table?”
Jean-Pierre: “No, we are going to continue to move forward with our clean-energy proposal, our climate change proposal.”
Doocy: “And…is that the priority…over gas prices?” pic.twitter.com/rxJTwGOL1b
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) June 16, 2022
“No, we are going to continue to move forward with our clean-energy proposal, our climate change proposal,” Jean-Pierre said. These people are clueless.
So, they want the companies to invest a lot and ramp up production — while they’re still trying to get rid of them? This is absurd. Please help us political, but still let’s do it in.
Exxon also noted that this message is not a good one. Under these conditions, why would someone produce something? It’s already a precarious business, with a lot of possible loss. What you will have from all this is people getting out of the field because they don’t want to have to deal with this. It will create more problems and push up prices. You have to have a consistent, stable, encouraging policy — not a government trying to whip you into submission.
But then Doocy asked Jean-Pierre about another one of Biden’s lies — that inflation is worse everywhere else but here. She goes into a word salad to rival Kamala Harris and Joe Biden, basically repeating Biden’s lie.
DOOCY TIME – “Why is it?” [Biden]”Inflation is worse in all places but here?”
KJP: “B/c what we’ve seen around the world. As we said, inflation is a worldwide problem. It is–it is–it is–it is caused by, clearly, the pandemic…and also…the war” pic.twitter.com/3UPQnVjYPL
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) June 16, 2022
She’s supposed to be the press secretary. She’s supposed to be explaining all their positions on issues. If she descends into word salads and isn’t comprehensible, then we have an even bigger problem.
Doocy wouldn’t let her off the hook. He nailed her on that lie — pointing out inflation is worse here than in a boatload of countries.
Doocy: “He says…inflation is worse everywhere but here. That’s not true. U.S. has worse inflation than Germany, France, Japan, Canada, India, Italy, Saudi Arabia…Why is he saying that?”
KJP: “Well, I think what we are saying is…it is a global thing…everyone is feeling” pic.twitter.com/FW46GK1LH0
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) June 16, 2022
But that’s the problem, when you lie a lot and have no idea what you are doing, it’s hard to keep anything straight–and that’s the Biden and his team right now.
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