Biden’s America Last Energy Policy

The first year of Joe Biden’s presidency has so far been an unmitigated disaster for the American energy sector. Embracing Green New Deal-style environmental policies, President Biden’s approach to domestic energy production cripples hard-working Americans while, at the same time, increasing our reliance on foreign nations. It comes as no surprise that Biden’s misguided radicalism is now reaping severe consequences.

As countless American families can attest, the price of gas is rising dramatically. A gallon of gas is approximately a whole dollar more than it was a year ago. The rising price at the pump has real consequences for families already grappling with inflation and rising costs on everything from groceries to energy.

In an attempt to put a bandaid on the financial hurt that American families are feeling right now, the Biden administration is pleading with OPEC, the Middle Eastern oil cartel, to ramp up oil production. Rather than putting America first, Biden is wreaking havoc on domestic energy production and then asking foreign nations to pick up the slack.

Since taking office, Biden has shown nothing but hostility towards clean and reliable American oil and gas and the jobs the industry creates. One of his first actions as president was to issue a moratorium on new oil and gas leases on federal lands.

This comes as the United States spent the previous four years embracing the American oil and gas industry to historic success. By 2020, America transformed itself from a net energy importer to a net energy exporter. Energy independence benefits our national security, creates thousands of good-paying jobs, and supplies Americans with reliable energy.

Biden should be celebrating and building upon the success of the previous administration, but instead, he is bowing down to radicals and embracing counterproductive Green New Deal policies.

The policies championed by Biden — designed to destroy stable American oil and gas jobs — were always doomed to fail.

Part of the beauty of the American experiment is the system of federalism in which 50 laboratories of democracy can implement a spectrum of policy alternatives that lead to different results. One need look no further than the state of California to see the severe faults in the left’s pipe-dream climate agenda.

The Golden State is home to nearly 40 million people and has some of the most ambitious environmental policies nationwide. California’s state government aims to have at least 60% of energy sourced from renewable resources by 2030. Unfortunately, these resources are notoriously unreliable and pay workers far less than oil and gas.

Currently, California is anticipating an energy supply shortage of up to 3.500 megawatts or the equivalent of 2.6 million households. In need of rescue, California is now turning to fossil fuels to fill the gap. On July 30th, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an emergency proclamation that allows industrial energy users to run on diesel generators and engines.

With California’s failures on full display, Biden still chooses to push for green energy jobs that pay workers vastly less than their oil counterparts.

The failure of the left’s climate agenda is predictable to all who are paying attention. Rather than implementing nonsensical Green New Deal policies and importing fossil fuels, we must embrace stable American energy.

Biden’s time is spent kowtowing to left-wing radicals within his party at the expense of American workers. It’s no wonder that Biden is now begging a foreign cartel to fill the void he has left in a rush to alleviate the damage that he has caused.

Adam Brandon is President of FreedomWorks.