Op-Ed
An oil field backlit by the setting sun. (Anton Petrus / Getty Images)
By Chris Talgo November 24, 2024 at 6:00pm
One of the leading reasons Americans are struggling to make ends meet and the international order has been upended is President Joe Biden’s absolutely absurd war on fossil fuels.
To be fair, Biden is not the first U.S. president to declare war on fossil fuels; this misguided mission can be traced back to the George W. Bush administration, if not earlier.
However, it is undeniable that the Biden administration has taken the anti-fossil fuel, pro-green energy agenda to a whole new level.
By nixing the Keystone XL Pipeline and forbidding the sale of U.S. liquified natural gas (LNG) to our allies abroad—just a few of the Biden administration’s most egregious actions—the United States has taken a giant step backward.
In the meantime, U.S. adversaries such as Iran, Venezuela, and Russia have reaped the rewards by filling the void and selling precious oil and natural gas to nations like China, thereby fortifying their nation’s coffers with billions of dollars.
It does not have to be this way, and very soon we can expect some major changes.
President-elect Donald Trump is an unabashed advocate of what he calls “U.S. energy dominance.” By this, Trump is referring to a paradigm in which the United States lifts the throttle and takes full advantage of the bountiful natural resources blessed upon this nation.
In his first term, Trump put the United States on a path to energy dominance. In fact, under Trump, the United States became a net oil exporter for the first time in 75 years.
By opening federal lands for energy extraction and relaxing onerous regulations on the fossil fuel industry, Trump helped expand the county’s energy portfolio, which had repercussions both at home and abroad.
On the domestic front, Trump’s embrace of commonsense energy policy and flat-out rejection of climate alarmism resulted in a substantial decline in the cost of energy for all Americans.
During Trump’s first term, the price of gasoline plummeted. So, too, did the price of electricity. Overall, Trump’s sound energy policy was a boon for hard-working Americans, who paid less for all of their energy needs.
It also must be noted that reduced prices for energy play a key role in the cost of goods and services, which remained relatively stable throughout Trump’s first term.
After all, energy is the lifeblood of the U.S. economy; when the price of energy rises across the board, as has occurred under Biden, it has a ripple effect on the economy at large.
Yes, energy prices and inflation are connected. Moreover, when the price of energy goes down, the discretionary income and purchasing power of hard-working Americans go up.
On the international stage, the United States is a big player when it comes to energy. Believe it or not, many mighty nations like China are wholly dependent on importing the vast majority of the energy they consume.
Fortunately, the United States does not have this problem. Even better, due to the vast reserves of untapped oil and natural gas in places like Alaska, the United States is poised to be an energy superpower.
This is an important point because many wars have been waged and many lives have been lost due to access to energy.
Similarly, many rogue regimes have stayed afloat and funded unjust wars because they can export oil and natural gas to desperate countries around the globe.
For instance, if Russia were not able to supply most of Europe with natural gas it is highly likely it never would have invaded Ukraine. Most of the Russian war machine depends on the government’s revenue from selling energy to Europe.
Now, if the United States were to ramp up the production of oil and natural gas while eliminating frivolous regulations that prevent the sale of LNG to our European allies, it is not a far stretch to imagine that this alone would severely undermine Russia’s military adventures.
What’s more, if the United States were to open federal lands for fracking and other extraction processes, we could put a dent in the prospects of Iran and others funding terrorism by flooding the market with cheap oil.
For the past four years, the Biden administration has unnecessarily curtailed U.S. production of the abundant liquid gold located throughout the nation, thereby reducing the standard of living for American families while enriching nations that are antagonistic to U.S. interests.
Fortunately, this dark period is coming to an end soon.
The views expressed in this opinion article are those of their author and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by the owners of this website. If you are interested in contributing an Op-Ed to The Western Journal, you can learn about our submission guidelines and process here.
Chris Talgo is senior editor at The Heartland Institute.
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