Biden let Saudi Arabia become the world’s oil king again — we’re all worse for it
With a gallon of gas approaching $5 last 🌟June, President Joe Biden visited Saudi Arabia askinꩵg the kingdom for an increase in oil production.
The crown prince responded by cutting production a month before the midterm elections. In April, a second cut was announced, and then again this weekend, a third 🐻cut of 1 million fewer ꦿbarrels starting in July.
The message from the Saudis is clear: We set oil prices, just like we did🔯 in the past, and thanks to the weakness of Biden and his energy policy (or lack thereof), we are now in charge — again.
It does not have to be this way, as even Biden has acknowledged. During this year’s State of the Union, he proclaimed, 💃“We’re going to need oil for at least another decade and beyond,” a statement leading to outright laughter from the Republican side of the aisle.
Biden’s comments were laughably ignorant for two reasons. For starters, oil will be necessary in perpetuity. Even $1.3 trillion in taxpayer sꦉubsidies for electric vehicles won’t replace oil when EVs and wind and solar are all made from oil (and natural gas and coal).
We are no🔯t using less oil by “going green”; we are using oil differentꦉly. Innumerable products in everyday life come from oil: plastic, rubber, fiberglass, to name a few.
When New York Rep. Ja𓂃maal Bowman recently demanded we “stop drilling for fossil fuels completely,” one wonders if he realized his eyeglasses — frames and lenses — started as oil.
Second, if fossil fuels are required to make those wind ♓turbines and solar panels and EVs, then why not create conditions for a fossil-fuel economy so robust that we can all benefit immediately?
Biden has engaged in amenable oil negotiations with Saudi Arabia and the entire OPEC cartel, yet con𝓰tinues to liken American oil and gas companies to war profiteers.
Just last week, Biden’s Department of Interior placed another enormous parcel of land in New Mexico on a 20-year ban from resource developm♔ent.
He ignored the pleas and the protests of the Navajo community dependent on thﷺat develop🦂ment for its livelihood.
On one hand, we have a president admitting we need oil, but on the other, an administrative state making it near impossible to bring it to market.
These contradictory actio✤ns signal to the world the United States has no clear energy plan other than climate hysteria. When America shows weakness, nations like Saudi Arabia will pounce.
There is a better way.
Biden♔ could beat the Saudis at th𝔉eir own game by expanding domestic production.
Just as oil prices are up at the mere announcement of production cuts (which don’t start 🙈for another month), markets would respond with lower p🥃rices if Biden announced favorable conditions for domestic production.
Expanding domestic production would translate to significant job growth, as one new oil worker creates nearly♓ t🥂hree additional jobs.
Increased produc🔥tion would slowly bring down prices ♈on all goods, services and food, which would lower inflation, bills and utilities.
Remember gas under $2 a gallon? Or eggs costing less than $5 a dozen? Expe☂nsive energy leads to high pri🤡ces, and it is all reversible.
It would also weaken Russia: The fast way to end Vladimir Putin’s invasion is to cut off his cash cow, and the only way to do that is lower oil prices by outp💝roducing him.
Yet for all this to happen, these incredible, posiꦗtive developments for American families and our domestic economy, geopolitics and world peace, Biden would have to admit American fossil fuels are both good and necessary.
And that he cannot do. Fossil fuels cannot be the hero of the story 𓆉becaus💫e it contradicts the green cult running amok.
Oil runs the world, like it or not.
America 🉐could be in the driver’s seat if we let our producers do what they do best: produce oil.
Under Biden, America has surrendered the oil economy. The Saudi king is now the world’s oil kin✤g again, and we are 🧜all worse for it.
Daniel Turner is the founder and executive director of Power The Future, a national nonprofit organization that advocates for American energy jobs. Twitter: @DanielTurnerPTF
