It wasn’t that long ago that we had an economy that worked for everyone. America First policies delivered outcomes that benefitted all Americans — cheap gas, low inflation, record-low poverty and unemployment, and robust economic growth.
The Biden administration reversed course on the policies that delivered these results, and Americans are paying the price. Put simply, the Biden administration’s campaign trail commitment to the rapid end of fossil fuels has been perhaps its most defining and most predictably damaging promise to the American people. It is difficult to overstate the profound effects of energy in powering every aspect of our nation’s economy or the devastating impact when our leaders get energy policy wrong.
The evidence is in on the Biden administration’s delusions of climate grandeur — and it should be sobering. (RELATED: SANDERS And CARTER: Biden’s Gimmick Solutions Only Make The Energy Crisis Worse)
President Joe Biden’s open hostility to American traditional energy production from day one has stifled American energy investment, production and innovation. From canceling Keystone XL and declaring a moratorium on new oil and gas leases on federal lands to an all-out regulatory onslaught on traditional energy sources and access to capital, the Biden administration’s war on the energy sources that account for nearly 80% of U.S. and 84% of world energy consumption has had a predictably chilling effect.
Americans are taking stock of the consequences.
Contrary to Biden’s false assertions, gas prices reached historic $5 highs under his watch and still remain 55% higher than when he took office. Despite sustained price incentives for producers, U.S. oil production is still more than a million barrels per day under its pre-pandemic peak. Diesel prices are up 45% for the year, and an ongoing refined products shortage will continue to raise costs across the economy.
With winter approaching, costs are set for increases no matter how you heat your home, with natural gas prices anticipated to increase 28%, heating oil 27%, and electricity 10% — worse if we get a colder winter.
Energy inflation is up nearly 41% since Biden took office, with more half of that inflation occurring prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Energy costs are driving the historic 8.2% 12-month inflation that is devastating families across America.
Unfortunately, rather than drawing a logical conclusion from the evidence and declaring an end to the war on U.S. energy production, the Biden administration has chosen a combination of denial, deflection and delusional policymaking in response to the ongoing crisis.
As weak U.S. energy policy contributed to the high oil prices financing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Biden administration has added insult to injury with repeated claims of “Putin’s Price Hike.” Then in an incredible exercise in delusional reasoning, the administration claimed in its national security strategy that “Events like Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine have made clear the urgent need to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels.”
As Americans continue to face the predictable consequences of the Biden administration’s anti-U.S. energy policies, apparently, the lesson to be learned is that we need to pursue the same policies that have only served as voluntary energy disarmament with even greater urgency.
Instead of allowing Americans to harness the incredible resources under our feet, the Biden administration plans to accelerate the transition from energy dominance to dependence, all while depleting our strategic reserves and begging our adversaries for more oil.
Further, the Biden administration has punctuated its response to backlash with outright denial and additional scapegoating, claiming that its hostile policy approach “has not stopped or slowed oil production.” In the same breath, his administration points the finger at oil companies, calling them “war profiteers.
The proposed solution is a 95% windfall profits tax on oil companies. Increasing the cost of production on something you desperately need seems like a lesson President Biden could’ve learned in Econ 101. Former President Jimmy Carter’s windfall profits tax could also teach the same.
It is said that “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” If the Biden administration hasn’t learned by now that the answer to the devastating impacts of its war on fossil fuels on the nation, its economy, and its citizens is not to commit further to its failed policies, the definition seems apt.
Fortunately, the American people are ready for a return to sanity. All of our leaders would do well to listen and to make America First energy policies their number one priority at the next opportunity.
Carla Sands, U.S. ambassador to Denmark during the Trump Administration, is vice chairwoman of the Center for Energy & Environment at the America First Policy Institute.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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