The price of oil surged to $75 a barrel the other day under President Joe Biden’s green energy policies. The price was as low as $35 a barrel under former President Donald Trump because he believed in American energy dominance (“Drill, baby, drill”). So, more oil meant lower prices at the pump. It was effectively a massive, multibillion-dollar tax cut for lower- and middle-income earners of tens of billions of dollars a year.
But now, with the exploding demand for energy as the world economy reopens, the self-defeating Biden policy is to curtail oil drilling and wireline services companies here at home, which is often done by the smaller and independent “wildcat” drillers. Instead, this administration enriches the major oil companies such as Exxon and Chevron with existing wells that are suddenly more profitable to drill. This is why the gas price at the pump is $3.29 a gallon nationally and above $5 a gallon in California.
Are these higher-energy prices transitory? Harold Hamm, one of the fathers of modern shale gas innovations, doesn’t think so. Instead, he predicts the price may surge to more than $100 a barrel, which means well over $4 a gallon at the pump.
The most significant deterrent to more drilling on these shores is the Biden de facto moratorium on domestic drilling on federal lands. How foolish is this? Up to an estimated $50 trillion of energy resources are right below our feet. This is like a buried treasure that could supply energy for 100-plus years. In addition, the royalties and taxes would help pay off some of our $30 trillion national debt.
Here’s the worst part of the story. None of this tomfoolery is doing any good for the environment. Even Biden’s own Energy secretary, Jennifer Granholm, has complained that in some ways, the Biden policies are making carbon emissions worse by approving pipelines of dirty energy from Russia to Germany while killing pipelines from relatively cleaner oil and gas here in the United States.
What is clear is that the renewable energy push and the subsidies for electric cars and electric batteries aren’t going to change our fossil fuel energy demands for years. So, it is only a question of whether we get the oil from here at home or from some of our major adversaries, such as Russia.
Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reports that even coal is making a comeback. After years of low prices, the coal price is now spiking due to less production. Biden has declared war on American coal, which has led to the closing of coal plants across the country. As utilities begin to awaken to the low reliability of wind and solar power, coal is in demand as a backup energy source to prevent blackouts. The rest of the world, especially Asia, is still addicted to coal. China now builds coal plants at a faster rate than we shut them down.
What sense does it make to shutter American coal when we have more of it, a 400-year supply, than any other nation. And our coal is the cleanest.
So, the Biden energy plan is bad for jobs, bad for consumers and bad for the environment. My prediction is that global and U.S. carbon emissions are going way up this year and next.
The irony of this story is that the industry that Biden and the greens hate the most is benefiting from his foolish policies.
And, yes, those are the Saudi oil sheikhs you are seeing rolling on the ground laughing at us.
Stephen Moore is a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation and an economic consultant with FreedomWorks. He is the co-author of “Trumponomics: Inside the America First Plan to Revive the American Economy.” To find out more about Stephen Moore and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
The Russian oil based economy needs about $64/barrel to make money. Joe just took them from an economic panic to getting flush enough to now finance middle east mischief and High tech blackmail,,,,,but of course in terms of the media propaganda arm of the Democrat Party it was Trump who betrayed us to the Russians. By now even the American minds filled with Democrat dispensed illegal border smuggled drugs can figure out what this Party of Criminals has been up to, who will soon rob the American working class to finance the nnewest rounds of Biden free giveaways to the socially failed un-self-governable people who sell their votes for the free political candy which embibed just fattens them up for more government dependency.
Makes you wonder,how much russia kicked BACK TO biden, to SIGN OFF on their pipeline..
“And, yes, those are the Saudi oil sheikhs you are seeing rolling on the ground laughing at us.”
Along with the rest of the world laughing and taking advantage of the U.S. because of this corrupt, demented, parrot, puppet president and his traitorous, dishonorable, dishonest, destructive, unethical, immoral, socialist Democrat Party. 🙁 🙁 🙁
yet Biden along with the rest of the corrupt, demented, parrot, puppet president and his traitorous, dishonorable, dishonest, destructive, unethical, immoral, socialist Democrat Party are flourishing, getting fat & happy no doubt AND laughing with the world at America. They’re still living? Tell ya what, I’ll laugh at this idiot country too. HA! HA! Take that American country of fools. Let the few run over us & make a joke out of us. Burn this fxxxing country to the ground. I’m done with losers….
“So, the Biden energy plan is bad for jobs, bad for consumers and bad for the environment.”
Building-back-better Joe. If there were a Fool-of-the-Year award, he would be the top contender. One thing is for certain—he shows his hand and you know where he stands—and it isn’t for the betterment of the country he is supposed to be leading. He represents a Party where certain members have referred to American citizens as deplorables, smelly Wal-Mart shoppers—among other derogatory slurs—making it quite clear what value they place upon the voice of the voters and the American populace in general—particularly if Conservative.
Joe is insulated and completely unaffected by his hair-brain policies—completely disconnected from the hardship he places upon middle class America. But he wants to be everybody’s President—at least that’s what the teleprompter told him to say.
ALL politicians, seem to be insulated.. I DOUBT ANY OF THEM actually even knows what the prices for things on the local shelves are, as they have AIDS and servants who do their shopping..