Since Joe Biden took office in 2021, he has made it a top priority to kill the fossil fuel industry. He killed the Keystone XL pipeline almost immediately and suspended research and exploration for gas and oil companies. The subsequent chokehold on the industry naturally led to the need for more foreign oil and, along with that, absurdly high prices for gasoline and other energy costs.
Despite blaming the war in Ukraine for the higher energy prices, which the American people didn’t buy, things got so bad that the president had to go to the Middle East, hat-in-hand, and beg for more production right before the midterm elections. Along with that, Biden drained America’s strategic reserve, which Trump had filled, in order to bring down gas prices temporarily. Now, the administration is being hit with legal challenges over offshore drilling restrictions.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) filed a petition Monday stating that the Department of Interior’s plan restricting future fossil fuel lease sales threatens U.S. energy security. The five-year plan finalized in December includes the fewest number of lease sales in American history. There are only three Gulf of Mexico lease sales through 2029, an unheard-of number and not enough to maintain the long term energy needs of the country.
API Senior Vice President and General Counsel Ryan Meyers said: “Demand for affordable, reliable energy is only growing, yet this administration has used every tool at its disposal to restrict access to vast energy resources in federal waters. In issuing a five-year program with the fewest lease sales in history, the administration is limiting access in a region responsible for generating among the lowest carbon-intensive barrels in the world, putting American consumers at greater risk of relying on foreign sources for our future energy needs.”
The plan also rules out any leasing off the Alaskan coast and both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Of course, all of this could be overturned if former President Donald Trump wins in 2024. He has vowed, among other things, to ‘drill baby, drill’ and maybe the last, best hope for the American energy sector. Under Trump, America was energy independent and was actually exporting oil.
The Department of Interior has stated that the plan would have been more restrictive if not for the so-called Inflation Reduction Act. The Democrat’s $739 billion package, signed by Biden in 2022, ties offshore wind energy leases to new oil and gas leases. Biden has promised 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030, but as of now, only two small projects off the coasts of Rhode Island and Virginia exist.
Myers also said: “Today, we are taking action to challenge this shortsighted program so that future generations of Americans will continue to benefit from our energy advantage for decades to come.” The Department of the Interior has yet to comment on the challenge.
Sadly, American energy is on the ropes thanks to Joe Biden and the green energy agenda. Meanwhile, Americans, particularly the poor, suffer from the high prices. It isn’t just gas and heat, either. The increased fuel costs drive up prices on literally everything in-store that arrives by truck. The only hope may be President Trump and his ‘drill, baby drill’ promise.
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