At this point, our gas prices are skyrocketing to the moon, while Joe Biden and his team seem to have no idea what they are doing from one minute to the next, as their positions contradict each other.
Biden sent energy companies a threatening letter demanding that they produce more oil and suggesting consequences if they did not comply. Shades of a communist government. Exxon responded back, essentially saying that he had no idea what he was talking about — it was a very polite, “you’re full of it.” They said that they kept producing through the pandemic, even though they lost billions in the process. But that the real answer is consistent government policy that allows for stable growth — the opposite of what Biden has done.
Specific to refining capacity in the U.S., we’ve been investing through the downturn to increase refining capacity to process U.S. light crude by about 250,000 barrels per day – the equivalent of adding a new medium-sized refinery. We kept investing even during the pandemic, when we lost more than $20 billion and had to borrow more than $30 billion to maintain investment to increase capacity to be ready for post-pandemic demand.
In the short term, the U.S. government could enact measures often used in emergencies following hurricanes or other supply disruptions — such as waivers of Jones Act provisions and some fuel specifications to increase supplies. Longer term, government can promote investment through clear and consistent policy that supports U.S. resource development, such as regular and predictable lease sales, as well as streamlined regulatory approval and support for infrastructure such as pipelines.
Now, we already noted that Biden’s climate czar John Kerry wasn’t on the same page, claiming that there was no need to drill more.
On Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre attacked the oil companies for not producing enough — telling them to “stop blaming the war” — which is ironic, given that’s all that Joe Biden does. She demanded that they be “patriotic” and come up with more.
But on Thursday, when Fox’s Peter Doocy asked Jean-Pierre if this meant that the Biden team was backing off their stated goal of ending fossil fuels, she said no. They were still intent on stopping fossil fuels, and that they “don’t need” to drill.
Doocy: “I know the President once said he’s going to end fossil fuels. Is that now off the table?”
Jean-Pierre: “No, we are going to continue to move forward with our clean-energy proposal, our climate change proposal.”
Doocy: “And…is that the priority…over gas prices?” pic.twitter.com/rxJTwGOL1b
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) June 16, 2022
“No, we are going to continue to move forward with our clean-energy proposal, our climate change proposal,” Jean-Pierre said. These folks are clueless.
So, they want the companies to invest a lot and ramp up production — while they’re still trying to get rid of them? How does that make any kind of sense? Help us politically, but we still want to do you in.
And as Exxon noted, what kind of message does this send? Why would anyone produce anything under these circumstances? It’s already a precarious business, with a lot of possible loss. What you will have from all this is people getting out of the field because they don’t want to have to deal with this. Which will make things more difficult and drive prices up even more. You have to have a consistent, stable, encouraging policy — not a government trying to whip you into submission.
But then Doocy asked Jean-Pierre about another one of Biden’s lies — that inflation is worse everywhere else but here. She goes into a word salad to rival Kamala Harris and Joe Biden, basically repeating Biden’s lie.
DOOCY TIME: “Why is [Biden] saying that inflation is worse everywhere but here?”
KJP: “B/c of what we have seen across the globe. First of all, inflation is a global challenge, as we have said. It is–it is–it is–it is caused by, clearly, the pandemic…and also…the war” pic.twitter.com/3UPQnVjYPL
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) June 16, 2022
She’s supposed to be the press secretary. She’s supposed to be explaining all their positions on issues. If she descends into word salads and isn’t comprehensible, then we have an even bigger problem.
Doocy wouldn’t let her off the hook. He nailed her on that lie — pointing out inflation is worse here than in a boatload of countries.
Doocy: “He says…inflation is worse everywhere but here. That’s not true. U.S. has worse inflation than Germany, France, Japan, Canada, India, Italy, Saudi Arabia…Why is he saying that?”
KJP: “Well, I think what we are saying is…it is a global thing…everyone is feeling” pic.twitter.com/FW46GK1LH0
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) June 16, 2022
But that’s the problem, when you lie a lot and have no idea what you are doing, it’s hard to keep anything straight–and that’s the Biden and his team right now.
Authored by Nick Arama via RedState
