President Joe Biden’s plans to combat the energy crisis fueled by the war in Ukraine are producing the opposite effect, and “it makes no sense,” a former GOP lawmaker told the Washington Examiner.
Former Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) said the Biden administration should be taking advantage of opportunities to enhance “smart” competition here in the United States when it comes to the energy sector to avoid the house of cards Europe is facing when it comes to oil and gas.
“Now, with enormously high energy costs, I’m concerned,” Walden said on the Plugged In podcast, adding, “I mean, they give us these head fakes about [how] we’re going to develop more energy here, but then they shut down some of the permitting process … It makes no sense.”
“And you go and fist bump the Saudis and get, you know, slapped in the face,” he added, referring to Biden’s trip in July.
CONGRESS EYES CUTTING OFF FOREIGN MARKETS FROM US STRATEGIC RESERVE OIL
With gas prices on the rise and high electricity costs, the Oregon Republican also questioned Biden’s decision to drain the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, calling it a “political” move.
Walden, who was the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee while in office, said the stockpile was created for an emergency, not just to “bring the price of gas down a few cents a gallon.”
“What the heck do you do if you drain it down? How are you going to pay to refill it when you really have a problem?” he asked.
When the administration is forced to look to authoritarian regimes, such as Venezuela, for oil and gas, that creates more pollution — which doesn’t fit into the president’s current agenda.
“We live in a very complicated and fragile world. We have to make sure that America has reliable and affordable energy, period. Because when we don’t, we [also] lose jobs,” Walden said.
But turning to domestic production in the U.S. requires a marketplace that is open to regulated competition. Monopolies in any industry can be a roadblock to innovation, as no one is pressured to “get any better,” he said.
“I always think when you’ve got a truly properly regulated, competitive marketplace, consumers win because you get innovation and lower costs. Very seldom does it get turned on its head,” Walden added. “I just think we can do better.”
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Walden, who was also the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, took aim at Democrats that make Republicans seem out of touch with climate change, calling them “climate deniers.”
“The irony is Republicans would go about their business and pass laws that really created new opportunities in the energy sector,” he said, pointing to exporting crude oil, the development of liquefied natural gas, and fracking.
“We just never could take very good credit for it. We’re pretty bad at that,” he added.
While in the House, Walden said he and his colleagues even wrote an op-ed piece essentially saying: “The climate is changing. We contribute. Now, let’s have a debate about how we fix it.”
Fracking did a lot for the reduction of carbon versus coal, he said.
“We did more to reduce carbon emissions, I would argue, than probably anybody on the planet, as Americans and American companies opened that up,” he said, adding that Oregon has long been at the forefront of a move to clean energy.
“We’ve kind of had it all here. So it gave me a good perspective about how important it is to have a good electricity supply mix … and to have competition,” Walden said.
“I think there’s a lot of opportunity out there and we shouldn’t shy away from it. We’ve got to be smart,” he added.
Plugged In, hosted by former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Neil Chatterjee and energy reporter Breanne Deppisch, brings on key players, from lawmakers to federal employees to industry experts, to keep our audience up to speed on the latest energy issues facing the country and the planet.
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