Link: https://environmentalprogress.org/founder-president Please see link above for Michael Shellenberger’s website.
Why Biden's Attacks On Energy Are "Absolutely Insane" The president says he's taking action to lower prices, but he's not. Why is that?
Michael Shellenberger June 16, 2022
President Joe Biden speaks at AFL-CIO Convention in Philadelphia on June 14, 2022. (Photo by Nicholas Kamm / AFP)
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President Joe Biden appears to be doing everything in his power to lower energy prices. Last month, Biden officials eased sanctions on Venezuela with an eye to increasing oil imports. Next month, Biden will travel to Saudi Arabia with the intention of improving relations and increasing oil production. And yesterday, Biden sent a harshly-worded letter to Exxon and other oil companies, urging them to increase production. “At a time of war,” Biden wrote, “high refinery profit margins being passed directly onto American families are not acceptable… companies must take immediate actions to increase the supply of gasoline, diesel, and other refined product.” But none of those actions will lower energy prices. Increasing oil production in Venezuela would take years and it wouldn’t be nearly enough to make up for the reduction of oil imports from Russia. Even Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates together could not produce enough oil to offset declining supply from Russia. And it’s not clear how antagonizing American oil and gas companies will result in more production and lower prices. U.S. refineries are already operating at 94% of their capacity and Exxon invested $50 billion over the last five years to expand oil production by 50%. And, said the CEO of a large, publicly traded energy company, who asked to remain anonymous, “Biden’s attacks on the industry have created an uncertain environment that prevents investment.” In what might be perceived as the extending of an olive branch, the Biden Administration last night invited oil and gas executives to the White House for talks about how to lower energy prices. And on CNN, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm emphasized that the administration is not seeking to destroy oil and gas companies but rather re-tool them. “We are asking the oil and gas companies to diversify,” she said, “and become diversified energy companies.” But these gestures pale in comparison to the overarching hostility the Biden Administration has directed toward oil and gas companies since taking office. In March, it revoked a permit by a refinery on the U.S. Virgin Islands to expand production. Last month, the Biden administration canceled a massive, one-million acre oil and gas lease in Alaska. And earlier this week, Senator Ron Wyden proposed a large new tax on oil industry profits, which Biden officials say the president may support. A senior executive at a major U.S. bank that finances oil and gas exploration yesterday told me, “If you were an oil company, why would you invest hundreds of millions of
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dollars into expanding refining capacity if you thought the federal government or investors would shut you down in the next few years? The narrative coming from the administration is absolutely insane. ” As a result, mainstream journalists are increasingly calling out Biden officials for the glaring contradiction at the heart of their energy policy. “Are you telling me you want them drilling for more oil?” asked CNN host John Berman of Secretary Granholm yesterday. “You want the refineries putting out more gasoline in five or ten years?”
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