The Biden Administration Is Deliberately Sabotaging U.S. Energy Production – Opinion

RedState.com is not responsible for guest opinions.

While campaigning for president, Joe Biden made it abundantly clear that one of his chief goals would be the demolition of America’s fossil fuel energy industry. Unfortunately, President Biden did not fulfill his campaign promise. This is why energy costs are skyrocketing, and rolling brownouts might become the norm across the nation in the near future.

According to the June Consumer Price Index report, “The energy index rose 41.6 percent over the past 12 months. In the past 12 months, the gasoline index saw a 59.9% increase. It is now the biggest 12-month growth since March 1980. The largest 12-month growth in electricity since April 2006 was 13.7 percent. The index for natural gas increased 38.4 percent over the last 12 months, the largest such increase since the period ending October 2005.”

Although the Biden administration would like you to believe that the vast increase in energy prices is due to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, this is simply not true.

Biden and his officials in the administration have been fighting against U.S. oil and gas production from day one. That is why prices of natural gas, gasoline, diesel, electric, propane and heating oil continue to climb at historically high rates.

Immediately after taking the oath of office, Biden launched his assault on America’s energy sector when he canceled the Keystone XL pipeline, which would have transported nearly 900,000 barrels of oil from Canada to U.S. refineries on a daily basis.

Biden also signed executive orders that day to curb domestic energy exploration and production in the United States. One of these was to suspend oil and gas leasing on federal lands.

Shortly thereafter, Biden decided to undo President Trump’s decision to pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Accords, despite the fact that U.S. carbon dioxide emissions decreased more than the Paris Climate Accords dictated during Trump’s presidency.

Biden also issued another set of executive orders in May to curb U.S. energy investment and innovation. Many executive departments mobilized to crack down on U.S. Energy sector such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, thanks to these pernicious actions.

Biden cancelled oil and gas permits at the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico, in late 2021.

Making matters even worse, Biden then enabled the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to “sharply reduce methane and other harmful air pollution from both new and existing sources in the oil and natural gas industry.”

On top of all of this, the Biden administration has also overturned many Trump-era rules and policies that were intended to reform a host of burdensome EPA oil and gas rules, slow-walked new drilling permits, pursued onerous standards for particulate matter and ozone, increased red tape throughout the energy industry, raised the “social cost” of greenhouse gases, attempted to resurrect the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, massively increased subsidies for so-called renewable energy sources and electric vehicles, and inserted John Kerry as the nation’s Climate Envoy.

It is important to note that this list does not include all of the steps taken by Biden Administration in order to curb U.S. production. This is only a sample of the extent to which the Biden administration went in trying to end the boom times for the U.S.’s oil and gas industries.

But, wait. Didn’t President Biden just return from Saudi Arabia, where he begged the kingdom to increase OPEC oil output? And, didn’t Biden also beg Iran, Venezuela, and other reprehensible regimes to increase oil production?

Yes, indeed. This begs the question: How can Biden ask his adversaries for more oil and gasoline while simultaneously he deliberately undermines oil and gas production here in America?

The most surprising thing is that Biden seems to be pleading with these countries for more production of fossil fuels. This is even though they have production methods that are not as sustainable as the United States.

But, the most pressing question is this: Why is Biden intentionally impeding U.S. energy production even though the United States is sitting atop the world’s largest reserve of recoverable oil and gas resources, in a time when Americans are struggling to put food on the table and gas in their tanks?

That question is not one I can answer. I think the answer is simple: The Biden administration is pursuing a radical green agenda, regardless the impact on American citizens.

It is good to know that We the People have the sole authority in deciding whether or not to follow common sense policies to keep energy prices low and the environment clean. Or if we pursue an ideological crusade to make us less dependent on other countries and more vulnerable to energy shortages. Recent polls have shown me that I am more inclined to believe the latter.

Chris Talgo ([email protected]) Senior editor, The Heartland Institute