Time to Take the Brakes Off the U.S. Energy Industry

‘Energy independence’ is a pipe dream, even for as big a producer as the U.S. But we are needlessly hobbling our domestic energy sector for political reasons.

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The Marathon petroleum refinery in Carson, Calif., December 5, 2019

Mike Blake/Reuters

Canada has announced a ban (mostly symbolic) on Russian petroleum imports. The United States has not, because we have hamstrung ourselves. In spite of being the world’s largest oil producer — by far — we continue to import enormous quantities of oil and other petroleum products. That isn’t a bad thing in and of itself, but it does limit some of our options — and, in this case, it does so unnecessarily and, indeed, destructively.

There are four things to know here.

Kevin D. Williamson

About the Author

Kevin D. Williamson

Kevin D. Williamson is a former fellow at National Review Institute and a former roving correspondent for National Review.

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