Monday, December 09, 2024
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Record Oil Production Under Harris-Biden, but Woke Environmentalists and the Media Stay Quiet



In 2020, semi-cognizant candidate Joe Biden issued this statement on fossil fuels, and specifically, the oil industry.

โ€œNo more subsidies for the fossil fuel industry. No more drilling, including offshore. No ability for the oil industry to continue to drill period. It ends.โ€

That statement aligned with Bidenโ€™s climate policy, which called for an ambitious 65% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, less than six years from now.

Biden Takes Office and Gas Prices Skyrocket

True to his word, once he took office, Biden immediately targeted fossil fuels.

In 2021, Slow Joe directed the Department of Interior to stop issuing all oil and natural gas drilling permits on federal lands. In June 2021, Biden halted construction on the Keystone Pipeline, which would have delivered 830,000 barrels of oil a day from Canadian oil shale lands to American refineries. Along with crushing regulations and other specific moves designed to prohibit oil and gas companies from investing in exploratory projects, Biden placed pressure on banks to stop lending to them as well.

The end result of this assault on the fossil fuel industry was predictably reflected in rising gasoline, fuel oil and natural gas prices that added to surging inflation from the pandemic-related free money giveaways. In fact, the price of a regular gallon of gas skyrocketed from $2.10 in November 2020, when the election was held, to a high of $4.29 in June 2022 as Bidenโ€™s anti oil and gas measures reached their full impact.

Oil production in the U.S. plummeted from 13,000 barrels a day in December 2019 to a low of 11,000 barrels a day in September 2021. To be fair, part of the decline was due to the pandemic, but even two years later, when the pandemic was in the rearview mirror, production was still significantly behind 2020 levels, but demand continued to rise.

In order to mitigate the damage and the outcry from the public, Biden, Harris, or their handlers, decided to tap into the strategic petroleum reserve. You know, the oil storage tank of last resort designed to be used during a global war or a national emergency. From January 2021, when Biden took office, he drew down the reserve by 45%. Simultaneously, Biden groveled to Nicolรกs Maduro and begged the Venezuelan strong-arm dictator to sell the U.S. some oil.

But Then Something Strange Began to Happen

The 2022 midterm election signaled the beginning of the next presidential election cycle. Donald Trump announced his candidacy shortly thereafter, and by summer 2023, several other Republicans had also announced. It was around that time, something strange and unusual began to happen with U.S. energy policy. Without fanfare, and certainly without any mainstream media coverage, U.S. oil production began to surge.

From December 2022 forward, oil production has continued to rise every month, until it surpassed the December 2019 all-time high production level of 12,980 barrels a day. Currently, as of April 2024, production stands at 13,248 barrels a day.

How is this possible? I thought it was imperative we stop burning oil immediately, or we would find ourselves past the point of no return in destroying the planet?

How can the Harris administration, who railed against the evils of fossil fuel, allow U.S. oil production to exceed the highest levels produced under Trump? I can understand why Cackling Kamala wouldnโ€™t want to advertise the bad news to environmentalists, but what about the media? Shouldnโ€™t climate change advocates like Yahoo News, MSN, CNN, The New York Times and the Washington Post be all over this story? Especially in an election year?

Perhaps more importantly, why did the Harris-Biden administration approve an $8 billion oil drilling project in Alaska in April 2023? Yes, thatโ€™s right, Alaska. You know, the last great frontier that woke environmentalists insist must remain unspoiled.

The Willow Reservoir project will involve sinking 199 new wells across three drilling sites over a 30-year period.

Where is the outrage? Where are the protestors burning stuff down? Where are the Mother Jones editorials condemning Harris-Biden for destroying the planet?

Republican Opportunity

Democrats have stepped in it on this one, and it presents a rare opportunity for Republicans, and specifically Trump, to expose their hypocrisy. While it was a net positive with voters, Democrats were all about the environment, but as soon as the polls started turning as the effects of their psychotic policies began to gain traction, they immediately retreated and flushed their sanctimony in favor of power and political expediency.

If I was Trump in a debate with Harris, I would ask her to define her position on fossil fuels. Once she was done grandstanding and preaching about her commitment to preserving โ€œGaiaโ€, I would ask for an explanation as to why there is more of the dirty, disgusting oil being pumped under her administration than at any time in history.

Letโ€™s hear her word-salad answer on that one.