The administration’s goal is to remove the free market from the equation and drive the largest segment of energy production out of business.
The administration’s goal is to remove the free market from the equation, and drive the largest segment of energy production out of business.
J ust weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had overstepped its authority in trying to control how America generates electricity, the Biden administration’s EPA is using the same playbook to bypass the states and force oil and gas out of the market entirely. This abuse of power — and its impact on American families — should concern all of us.
Biden is unilaterally changing policy to force his “Green New Deal” on states and the American people, one way or another. This is a president who, until recently, stated his intent to declare a “climate change emergency” so he could expand his powers to single-handedly impede the production of traditional forms of energy sources like oil, gas, and coal.
While he appears to have abandoned his “emergency,” his administration has made it clear that it will take every opportunity to hobble oil, gas, and coal — even as the current economy provides a clear picture of how high energy prices can impact the economy and family budgets. Recently, Biden’s own EPA chief, Michael Regan, discussed putting more regulations on energy producers to make energy more expensive, all to artificially make so-called clean energy look more competitive.
“We want to present the industry with a suite of regulations so that they can make the best long-term investments possible,” Regan told Reuters. “The power sector will look at the cost benefit of complying with those and more than likely stay with the conclusion that . . . ‘clean’ energy is more cost effective for them and for their customers.”
In plain English, he is saying Biden should impose regulations until oil, gas, and coal can no longer compete, effectively removing the free market from the equation.
Worse yet, the Biden administration is making these plans in the midst of record-high inflation rates.
To his base, and to some who might not understand the repercussions, it sounds almost magical: impose regulations and the air will be cleaner and, overnight, the country will be powered by abundant, affordable “clean” electricity.
But that’s not real life. And the president is misleading us with half-truths and impossible promises.
While the green extreme pushes to mandate electric vehicles, left unsaid is that the electricity that powers them comes from somewhere, and that’s still largely oil, gas, and coal. They also call for increased use of batteries at the same time federal environmental regulations make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to build facilities to mine and refine materials. This pushes us ever further toward total dependence on China — the world’s top exporter of lithium batteries — and other foreign powers.
Biden’s approach isn’t about the facts, it’s about control.
In Texas, technology and reasonable regulations have enabled us to increase oil and gas production while improving air quality. It’s part of an “all of the above” approach to energy production that has made our state a leader in both natural gas and wind power. It’s a model the federal government should adopt, instead of rigging the market to undermine the nation’s most prolific forms of energy production, meanwhile destroying jobs and pocketbooks in the process.
Biden’s environmental base has a strong list of demands, any one of which could completely destroy both the energy industry in the United States and the budgets of hardworking Americans coast to coast.
Among just a few of their priorities:
- Banning import/export of fossil fuels
- Prohibiting new lease sales
- Banning infrastructure like pipelines and production facilities
- Banning drilling and fracking
- Mandating that the federal government stop using fossil fuels in government vehicles
This is all dangerous, costly, and unnecessary.
Texas is a national and increasingly global leader in energy — not just oil and gas. Last year, fully 25 percent of the nation’s wind-powered electricity generation was generated in Texas. Solar is also growing, doubling in capacity in 2021, and expected to make another jump this year.
We can foster all forms of energy and promote methods and technologies that can power the country while protecting the air.
It’s impossible to do that, however, when the regulations are explicitly designed to drive the largest segment of energy production out of business entirely.