MSNBC Guest Says Biden’s Own Energy Policies Backed Him Into A Corner

American Action Forum President Douglas Holtz-Eakin said Friday on MSNBC that President Joe Biden backed himself into a corner with his aggressive anti-oil agenda as the administration grapples with OPEC’s decision to slash output.

OPEC+, which includes 15 OPEC members and the consortium’s Russian-led allies, voted Wednesday to slash oil production by two million barrels per day despite the White House requesting more oil be pumped. The move comes after months of Biden pleading with Saudi Arabia to increase output amid rising prices. But Holtz-Eakin said Biden has himself to blame.

“The president could adopt a strategy that takes advantage of the oil reserves that we have. We can insulate ourselves to a much greater extent than we are, and still maintain his climate goals by having some sort of price on carbon that gives people incentives to shift away from these fuels. And that’s a strategy that’s been explored a lot,” Holtz-Eakin said. “They rejected it in favor of saying no to coal, no to oil and, and that leaves them exposed to these international shifts.”

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“So I think they’ve got the wrong climate strategy that it’s backed him into a corner on oil again, and again. They might want to rethink that.” (RELATED: Jean-Pierre Fumbles Trying To Explain What Biden Is Doing To Lower Gas Prices)

Biden canceled the Keystone XL pipeline upon assuming office. The pipeline would’ve carried more than 800,000 barrels of oil per day from western Canada to oil refineries throughout the Midwest and Gulf Coast. The administration was also quick to issue a suspension of new oil and gas leasing and drilling permits for U.S. lands and waters.

While making the U.S. energy dependent, Biden began asking OPEC to boost oil production to combat rising gasoline prices in the spring of 2021. Then in June Biden threatened oil companies for not refining more gas. Biden warned leaders of seven major U.S. oil producers that he was “prepared to use all reasonable and appropriate Federal Government tools and emergency authorities” to increase petroleum refinery capacity and output.

But Chevron spokesperson Bill Turenne told the Daily Caller News Foundation that “since January 2021 [oil companies] have seen … policies that send a message that the Administration aims to impose obstacles to our industry delivering energy resources the world needs.”