EDITORIAL: Biden energy policy in part is to blame | Editorial

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The Times and Democrat

With gas prices pushing over $3 a gallon and expected to go higher with the rising price of crude oil, Americans may be in for a rough ride. The higher cost of energy affects how much people travel, how much other goods and services cost and how much money is left over.

President Joe Biden knows the cost of energy and the inflation it is fostering throughout the economy do not sit well with Americans. While he may be limited in what he can do directly to affect oil prices in the short term, the president will get blamed. And in key ways, he is at fault with his anti-oil energy policies.

When Biden took office, America was essentially energy independent, but he immediately signaled that we was declaring war on oil and natural gas.

Biden kicked off his presidency on Jan. 20, 2021, by killing the Keystone XL pipeline. For the newly elected Democrat, it was a message affirming his commitment to green energy policies. But there were and are consequences.

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Chris Woodward, who covers energy and technology for InsideSources.com, reports on how the decision looks a year later:

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First, there are the immediate economic impacts. Six months after Bidens decision, TC Energy pulled the plug on the pipeline, which would have shipped 500,000 barrels a day from Western Canada into the US refining system. Given Americas annual production of 16.5 million barrels a day in 2020, that was not a major loss at the time.

But today, domestic energy supplies are strained and global demand is soaring. US allies in Europe are struggling to meet demand in the winter of 2022. Circumstances are very different from the day Biden blocked Keystone, Woodward writes.

The Biden policies are making oil and natural gas investment unattractive.

When Biden shut down Keystone, which really was bending over backward to do everything right from the Democrats perspective and Biden still killed it that sent a message to the entire industry that it didnt matter what you did, this administration wanted to shut you down, said Dan K. Eberhart, CEO of Canary, one of the largest oilfield service companies in the country.

The pipeline cancellation has not helped US-Canadian relations, and it has not slowed oil production in Canada. In other words, the oil is still flowing, just not the way of the US

Woodward writes: It has certainly changed the mood between Ontario and Washington, DC Keystone was in many ways primarily a Canadian project. Bidens reversal on the pipeline, as well as proposed subsidies for US-made electric vehicles, has heightened tensions between the two allies.

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If Bidens goal was to keep the oil in the ground, it didn’t work. Canadian oil production remained strong throughout 2021 and is expected to hit a new record in 2022, according to the International Energy Agency.

Closing Keystone has not strengthened Americas hand with potential enemies.

Biden has been left in the awkward position of lobbying Congress to keep the Nord Stream 2 pipeline open, even as Russian President Vladimir Putin continues threatening a possible invasion of Ukraine. And less oil from Canada and the US on the global market means more demand for products from Russia, Libya, and Venezuela, according to Woodward.

This was a missed opportunity to increase North American energy security, lower costs for American consumers, and reduce dependence on foreign energy sources that are hostile to US interests, says Frank Macchiarola, senior vice president of policy, economics and regulatory affairs at American Petroleum Institute .

Biden is now reaching out to OPEC seeking increased oil production to help bring down prices. Its a return to the past with the country again relying on oil from sources that have no particular reason to accommodate the US

Yet, H. Sterling Burnett, Ph.D., senior fellow on environmental policy for the Illinois-based Heartland Institute, says is unlikely Biden will reconsider Keystone XL and his other energy policies.

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Biden is imposing methane regulations on the industry that the Trump administration decided were not necessary for public health and safety. Biden has agreed to block new natural gas pipelines and new natural gas power stations, so he’s helping create energy shortages in the US and approving pipelines from Russia as opposed to shipping our gas, Burnett told InsideSources Woodward.

Bidens view seems to be Energy is good for the world, but not for the United States.

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