Energy Expert Emphasizes the Need for an All-of-the-Above U.S. Energy Policy
The GAIN coalition recently sat down with Patrice Douglas, former chairman of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, to discuss U.S. energy policy. Douglas, the former President of SpiritBank and Executive Vice President of First Fidelity Bank, shared concerns that the Biden administration’s hostility towards U.S. energy production and infrastructure causes uncertainty for investors. She worries this could have long-term consequences for the energy sector. Douglas explains that “the Biden administration has left investors feeling uncertain and feeling like they have to look at this risk before they invest. And risk has a cost.” For the American people, this “cost” is sky-high energy prices.
Douglas agreed that U.S. consumers can’t continue to be exposed to the recent “whiplash” of energy prices. Douglas said she “talked to a young mother the other day, who said she’s struggling to fill up her tank with gas to get to work.” All Americans are impacted by these high energy prices, whether they’re filling up their tank with gas or trying to heat their homes for winters. The 39 percent price spike in the last two years has put a tremendous burden on Americans of all ages and backgrounds, especially people living on a fixed income like our seniors. Douglas says, “It really worries me for our aging population.”
In order to turn the tides on the U.S. energy crisis, the Biden administration must embrace what Douglas calls an “all-of-the-above” energy strategy. She says she supports investments in renewable energy sources like wind and solar but that the U.S. can’t “discount where most of our energy comes from right now… oil and gas.”
Click here or the photo above to hear more from Patrice Douglas