Biden Handcuffs America’s Energy Potential

This week, The Washington Times featured a piece by GAIN strategic advisor Col. Tom Magness discussing the repercussions and future detriments of Biden’s failing energy policies and actions.

As outlined in a previous GAIN blog and op-ed by Craig Stevens in The Oilman Magazine, President Biden recently asked the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to boost crude oil output. This was only the beginning, as this presidential request capped off eight months of policy decisions geared towards steering the nation away from fossil fuels and towards 100% renewable energy with the goal of a net-zero emissions economy by no later than 2050.

As Magness asserts in his op-ed, “renewables should undoubtedly play a role in our energy future, albeit as part of an all-of-the-above approach such as the one then-Vice President Biden once supported, it is incredibly shortsighted to enact policies that reduce the nation’s oil and natural gas supply.” He continues, “At the same time, global demand for those products continues to increase. The economy is picking back up again, and increased economic activity always translates into increased energy demand. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimated that global consumption of petroleum and liquid fuels will increase by 5.3 million barrels a day this year and forecasted an increase of 3.6 million barrels a day in 2022.”

Thankfully, new technology has given America the capacity to meet both global and domestic demand by using environmentally conscious methods of transporting reliable, affordable energy resources. For example, the Dakota Access Pipeline transports effective energy at a rate that is 4.5 times safer than trains or trucks could perform. We have the right infrastructure to make our energy dreams become reality, we just have to invest in them— not stifle them.

Magness concludes with this key passage:

“The Biden administration can continue to take us on a path that handcuffs our energy potential and includes going hat-in-hand to foreign nations every so often, undermining our energy security along the way. Or they can unleash that potential by investing in our pipeline infrastructure and encouraging exploration and safe extraction of oil and natural gas, firmly establishing our energy independence and ensuring that the future economic success of our nation does not depend on the decisions of foreign entities like OPEC.”