Under President Donald Trump’s leadership, the United States became a net oil exporter for the first time in over 70 years. Now, President Joe Biden is on a path to undo that accomplishment.
On Biden’s first day in office, he ended construction on the Keystone XL pipeline, killing thousands of high-paying jobs and making it harder for U.S. energy consumers to get the energy they need.
Then, later that first week, Biden banned new leasing for energy on federal lands, again killing many high-paying energy jobs and decreasing the supply of energy available to consumers.
Less fossil fuel production is exactly what liberal activists who have captured the White House wanted. But lower supply also means higher prices, and when those higher prices hit, Biden started to feel the political pressure to do something.
But instead of unwinding his previous bad policies, Biden turned to the international oil cartel OPEC and begged them to increase their production.
If cutting domestic production and then begging foreign entities to increase their production sounds like terrible public policy, it is not a new play for Democratic-run governments.
California has been cutting its energy production for years, including a ban on fracking by 2024 and the decommissioning of the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant in 2025. And while California has been trying to increase other energy production, it just isn’t coming online fast enough. Even Gov. Gavin Newsom admitted as much last year:
Biden and Newsom are showing the nation what happens when domestic energy production is reduced: higher prices for consumers and more production in foreign countries with lower labor and environmental standards.
Killing high-paying energy jobs may make liberal activists feel good, but the result is pain at the pump for Americans and a worse environment for everyone.
