On the campaign trail in 2019, President Biden made a promise to his supporters that he would “end fossil fuel.” Unfortunately, he has obeyed his promise, and the American people have suffered. On President Biden’s first day in office, he signed an executive order revoking approval of the Keystone XL pipeline. On January 20, 2021--President Biden’s inauguration day--the national average for a gallon of gas was $2.38.
Today, the national average for a gallon of gas is $4.46, representing a nearly 100% increase since President Biden took office.
This price increase can be directly attributed to the Biden Administration’s relentless regulatory assault on American energy producers. From the day President Biden took office, he has built regulatory barriers around the American energy industry, destroying any incentive for increased investment in drilling or refinery capabilities.
As the land available for oil and gas drilling has shrunk, gas prices have climbed higher. While domestic drilling is part of the solution, it isn’t the entire picture. To bring down costs and bring back American energy independence, we must unleash all our domestic energy sources.
What does it mean to embrace an all-of-the-above energy strategy? It means employing every form of energy available to lower costs for Americans, including fossil fuels, nuclear energy, renewables, and everything in between. This is the only way currently available to deliver cost-effective, reliable to the American people.
We need to incentivize American-made energy. Within the last week, we joined Representative Herrell and 67 other colleagues in condemning President Biden’s absurd trip to beg Saudi Arabia for more oil, while urging him to prioritize American energy resources.
We also joined an amendment to this week’s minibus package which will ensure no funds go to rules or regulations that will contribute to the closure of power plants in the United States. Finally, we sent a letter encouraging President Biden to support crude oil exports, which will incentivize increased production and prevent further instability in the energy markets.
The buck stops here: we must unleash American energy.