Joe Capitalist
Racism is a disease
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/03/republican-biggest-lies-about-joe-biden-energy-oil-gas-prices-fossil-fuels/
Republican lawmakers and right-wing media have responded to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by waging a misinformation campaign about the Biden administration being “at war with fossil fuels.”
The goal, of course, is to leverage the crisis in Eastern Europe to provide more access and regulatory relief to an oil and gas sector that is already very profitable, heavily subsidized, has enormous sway in Washington, and is sitting on unused permits to drill across millions of acres of land and water.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) accused President Joe Biden of leading “a frontal assault on oil and gas.” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) bemoaned Biden’s “backwards, America-last energy policies.” And numerous other industry-backed members of the GOP have spent the days since Russia launched its violent war peddling industry talking points and demanding Biden “unleash” America’s full oil and gas potential.
1. The administration “destroyed” our energy industry
In a post to Twitter this week, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) wrote that rising prices at the pump during Biden’s presidency “is what happens when you destroy America’s energy industry”—part of a broader argument that Biden is waging “war” on domestic fossil fuel companies.
For a destroyed industry, Big Oil is doing exceptionally well. Two years after the pandemic tanked oil demand and prices, the nation’s largest producers—ExxonMobil, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips—have seen their profits skyrocket alongside energy prices. And while Biden campaigned on a promise to “take on the fossil fuel industry” and end drilling on federal lands and waters, that has not materialized.
2. Biden “ended” oil and gas drilling on federal lands
In an interview late last month with right-wing news outlet Newsmax, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) claimed Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to invade Ukraine because of Biden’s energy policies, including “ending drilling on federal lands.”
Biden did not end federal drilling—far from it.
Early in his tenure, Biden paused new oil and gas leases on federal lands and waters pending the outcome of a review of the federal leasing program—an action that industry-allied Republicans falsely labeled a “ban” and falsely predicted would devastate the energy sector. A Trump-appointed federal judge in Louisiana later struck down Biden’s executive order that froze new leasing.
3. Biden “shut off” the Keystone XL pipeline
The controversial Keystone XL pipeline was a proposed 1,179-mile, $8.5 billion project that would have transported some 830,000 barrels of dirty tar sands oil per day from Alberta, Canada, to Nebraska. Biden revoked a key permit for the Keystone XL via a climate executive order on his first day in office, effectively killing it. Only 8 percent of the pipeline was constructed and it never carried oil.
Nevertheless, Republicans have attacked Biden with falsehoods about the beleaguered project, at times conflating it with the larger Keystone Pipeline system that’s been in operation since 2010 and which the Keystone XL was supposed to tie into.
4. Biden “destroyed American energy independence”
There are many iterations, but the Republican argument is basically that Biden “reversed,” “sabotaged” and “sacrificed” the so-called “energy independence”—some call it “energy dominance”—that the US purportedly achieved under Trump.
“Trump gave us energy independence. Biden gave us expensive gas,” Jordan recently tweeted.
“Biden’s anti-energy policies have caused skyrocketing prices, ended America’s energy independence, and compromised our national security,” House Republicans wrote in a post from their official Twitter account.
“Energy independence” can have different meanings. If Republicans are talking about simply producing more energy than we consume, the US remains energy independent today, as Robert Rapier, an energy industry engineer and author, pointed out in a Forbes piece this week. But if they’re talking about a nation free of any imported petroleum products, the US never achieved that under Trump.
Republican lawmakers and right-wing media have responded to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by waging a misinformation campaign about the Biden administration being “at war with fossil fuels.”
The goal, of course, is to leverage the crisis in Eastern Europe to provide more access and regulatory relief to an oil and gas sector that is already very profitable, heavily subsidized, has enormous sway in Washington, and is sitting on unused permits to drill across millions of acres of land and water.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) accused President Joe Biden of leading “a frontal assault on oil and gas.” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) bemoaned Biden’s “backwards, America-last energy policies.” And numerous other industry-backed members of the GOP have spent the days since Russia launched its violent war peddling industry talking points and demanding Biden “unleash” America’s full oil and gas potential.
1. The administration “destroyed” our energy industry
In a post to Twitter this week, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) wrote that rising prices at the pump during Biden’s presidency “is what happens when you destroy America’s energy industry”—part of a broader argument that Biden is waging “war” on domestic fossil fuel companies.
For a destroyed industry, Big Oil is doing exceptionally well. Two years after the pandemic tanked oil demand and prices, the nation’s largest producers—ExxonMobil, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips—have seen their profits skyrocket alongside energy prices. And while Biden campaigned on a promise to “take on the fossil fuel industry” and end drilling on federal lands and waters, that has not materialized.
2. Biden “ended” oil and gas drilling on federal lands
In an interview late last month with right-wing news outlet Newsmax, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) claimed Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to invade Ukraine because of Biden’s energy policies, including “ending drilling on federal lands.”
Biden did not end federal drilling—far from it.
Early in his tenure, Biden paused new oil and gas leases on federal lands and waters pending the outcome of a review of the federal leasing program—an action that industry-allied Republicans falsely labeled a “ban” and falsely predicted would devastate the energy sector. A Trump-appointed federal judge in Louisiana later struck down Biden’s executive order that froze new leasing.
3. Biden “shut off” the Keystone XL pipeline
The controversial Keystone XL pipeline was a proposed 1,179-mile, $8.5 billion project that would have transported some 830,000 barrels of dirty tar sands oil per day from Alberta, Canada, to Nebraska. Biden revoked a key permit for the Keystone XL via a climate executive order on his first day in office, effectively killing it. Only 8 percent of the pipeline was constructed and it never carried oil.
Nevertheless, Republicans have attacked Biden with falsehoods about the beleaguered project, at times conflating it with the larger Keystone Pipeline system that’s been in operation since 2010 and which the Keystone XL was supposed to tie into.
4. Biden “destroyed American energy independence”
There are many iterations, but the Republican argument is basically that Biden “reversed,” “sabotaged” and “sacrificed” the so-called “energy independence”—some call it “energy dominance”—that the US purportedly achieved under Trump.
“Trump gave us energy independence. Biden gave us expensive gas,” Jordan recently tweeted.
“Biden’s anti-energy policies have caused skyrocketing prices, ended America’s energy independence, and compromised our national security,” House Republicans wrote in a post from their official Twitter account.
“Energy independence” can have different meanings. If Republicans are talking about simply producing more energy than we consume, the US remains energy independent today, as Robert Rapier, an energy industry engineer and author, pointed out in a Forbes piece this week. But if they’re talking about a nation free of any imported petroleum products, the US never achieved that under Trump.
