Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) announced his energy policy strategy Wednesday in Midland, Texas, vowing to undo the Biden administration’s actions on climate change and ramp up domestic fossil fuel production.
His plan, dubbed the “Freedom to Fuel” plan, consists of six major tenets, including restoring U.S. energy dominance, “saving” the U.S. automobile industry, and reforming the permitting process.
DESANTIS AIMS FOR $2 GAS IN NEW ENERGY VIDEO
“I will ensure that this country does not have to rely on hostile nations for its energy needs ever again,” DeSantis said during a speech in Midland, Texas, an oil-rich town in the Permian Basin, which accounts for roughly 40% of all U.S. oil production.
He also pledged to restore the U.S. to “energy dominance,” including increasing crude, gas, coal, and uranium production activities on federal lands.
DeSantis said he would unleash U.S. fossil fuel production and lower gas prices to $2 per gallon. “We will unleash American energy dominance as a way to stop inflation and achieve $2 gas in 2025,” he said.
Patrick DeHaan, the head of global analytics at Gas Buddy, told the Washington Examiner that $2 a gallon gas is not realistic because oil prices are set globally and, unlike OPEC members, the U.S. government does not have state-owned oil companies by which it can dictate the amount of oil produced and sold. “There’s no way to disconnect and isolate the U.S. economy to make this happen,” he said.
During his speech Wednesday, DeSantis also vowed to “unleash oil and gas exploration and development” to bolster domestic fossil fuel production, restore the nation’s depleted emergency oil stockpile, and revitalize the nation’s nuclear sector as a means of carbon-free electricity generation.
He would also repeal the Biden administration’s electric vehicle targets, walk back consumer tax credits for EV purchases, and prevent California from setting ambitious auto emissions targets that are passed on to more than a dozen states. And he would remove the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement, following in the footsteps of former President Donald Trump.
DeSantis’s plan represents a stark departure from the Biden administration’s ambitious clean energy and renewable energy targets, which seek a 50% emissions reduction by 2030.
“We will reverse American decline by reversing Biden’s ‘America Last’ energy agenda, eliminating reliance on hostile nations for energy, and putting the economic interests of Americans before the radical Left’s ideological agenda,” DeSantis vowed.
Still, his conservation bona fides have set him apart from other GOP contenders.
As governor of Florida, DeSantis styled himself as a “Teddy Roosevelt conservationist” who has taken somewhat unorthodox steps for a Republican governor of a red state, including pouring billions into Everglades protection projects and directing the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to oppose fracking and offshore drilling — in contrast with his presentation as a culture warrior and anti-woke conservative.
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Now, DeSantis is hoping to use these credentials to appeal to Republicans in the run-up to the Iowa caucuses and help close the gap between him and former President Donald Trump, who holds a dominant lead in primary polls
Doing so might be difficult, however. Trump increased his lead among GOP voters this week, according to a new Harvard CAPS-Harris poll, with 57% of Republicans now saying they support the former president, while just 10% said the same of DeSantis, who holds second place.
