OPINION:
Senior White House officials are desperately trying to find someone to blame for the massive increase in gasoline prices. Instead of looking for a scapegoat, they should look in the mirror. President Biden and his congressional allies’ quest to kill traditional fuel sources is a large part of why America is facing an energy crisis.
With the promise of “green” energy seeming more elusive every day, it is clear that the emperor has no clothes. An overwhelming 70% of Americans disapprove of how the president is handling gas prices, and his excuses aren’t moving the needle. The president’s media and Big Tech allies are trying to provide him with cover, but the American people see through this charade whenever they pay well over $4 for a gallon of gasoline.
The president has waged war on domestic energy production. On the day he was sworn in, he revoked the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, eliminating thousands of jobs and chilling future energy production projects. He also halted the issuing of new drilling leases on all federal lands (a decision that’s been battled out in the courts ever since) including land in Alaska that could tap 11 billion barrels of oil and create over 100,000 American jobs.
More subtly, his administration enacted a series of regulations that are slowly strangling domestic energy production with bureaucratic red tape. Mr. Biden’s EPA is on a crusade to expand the Renewable Fuel Standard, which is essentially the agency’s annual ethanol mandate. As of last May, the rule costs about 30 cents for every gallon of gas. The rule could cost the U.S. energy sector $30 billion this year, up from just $5 billion in 2019, yet the administration is set on pushing that number higher. Worse, the Biden administration is still trying to deny RFS hardship waivers to dozens of small oil refineries under threat of bankruptcy, even after the recent jump in energy prices.
The White House’s crusade against domestic energy, coupled with the pandemic and supply chain woes, contributed to American energy companies producing approximately 1.1 million fewer barrels of oil in 2021 than they did in 2019. And after becoming a net petroleum exporter in 2020, America is projected to become a net importer this year.
Mr. Biden’s team pretends they have no control over domestic energy production, even while pushing policies designed to gut production. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm tried to laugh off concerns about domestic production, saying, “That is hilarious. Would that I had the magic wand on this.”
The White House still refuses to take any responsibility for the pain Americans are feeling at the pump. Asked about gasoline prices in the wake of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the president responded, “Can’t do much right now. Russia is responsible.” Yet Mr. Biden enabled Russia, ending sanctions on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline last year in an effort to appease Germany’s soft-on-Russia stance. The same year, America imported a decades-high percentage of its oil from Russia.
Then this year, Mr. Biden decided to ban Russian energy without corresponding measures to unleash American energy production. While cutting Russia off should be a top goal, Biden failed to cushion the blow on American consumers and unleash American energy. Instead, the Biden administration is doubling down and turning to America’s enemies for oil, trying to obtain new supplies from Iran and Venezuela.
The American people aren’t buying this pathetic attempt to deflect blame, so Democrats are shifting to pinning the blame on energy producers. Mr. Biden’s congressional allies are now claiming price-gouging and are dragging energy executives before Congress as part of their kabuki theater. Apparently, the buck doesn’t stop with Mr. Biden or his party.
White House efforts to avoid blame show the administration is unlikely to shift course on domestic energy production. If anything, some Democrats see this as a perfect opportunity to push for a drilling ban on federal lands, and Mr. Biden stayed committed to his green energy agenda during the State of the Union. He even pushed electric cars, which most Americans can’t afford and don’t want.
Instead of holding the president accountable, the corporate media and tech companies are helping the administration stick to its talking points. Heritage Action for America recently had a video fact-checked by Facebook and labeled as “missing context,” even though the video was primarily a compilation of statements by Biden officials. Many in the media are pretending there is no connection between Mr. Biden’s energy policies and rising gas prices.
Mr. Biden’s “America Last” energy policies have left Americans over an empty barrel with no relief in sight. Mr. Biden may blame Mr. Putin, oil companies or former President Donald Trump, but the American people paying for his missteps aren’t buying it. They know that before Mr. Biden, America was on the path to energy abundance. Now, we’ve got $5 gas sourced from Iran, and gas-price gaslighting from the White House.
• Jessica Anderson is the executive director of Heritage Action.
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