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If the quote above was just a lie we might be willing to forgive President Biden for simply being a politician. But it is worse than a lie. It describes exactly how stupid our President, and other elites, think we are. Since his inauguration, everything he has done concerning fossil fuels has had the effect of raising the price of oil which directly raises gasoline prices. There is no way, none, zero, zilch, nada, that this is a surprise to him or the Democrats who surround and support him. The sad fact is that the Progressive Left wants gas prices high. Indeed, they need gas prices to go higher. And they are doing everything in their power to see that they do.

There is one immutable fact in the world of economics. That is the law of supply and demand. When the supply of a product or service is greater than what consumers demand, the price will go down. When there is a shortage of a product or service to meet consumer demand, consumers will bid prices up. This is true in every free market capitalist society. Thus when President Biden shut down the Keystone XL Pipeline

Oil prices began rising the day after the 2020 election. In November of 2020 the average price of a barrel of domestic oil was $34.26. The average price in December, one month after the election, was $40.21 a barrel. That is an increase of nearly 20%! What happened to cause the price to go up that much so quickly? Not a thing other than Joe Biden was elected President. Throughout his campaign he promised to put an end to fossil fuel production in our country. Oil and gas explorers/drillers hoped he wasn’t serious. Sadly, he was. His draconian energy policies caused inflation to rise to the highest level in over 40 years. A gallon of gasoline is the most expensive it has ever been. Groceries are expensive and will only get more so in coming months. The uninformed, misinformed, and those on fixed incomes, who voted for Biden had no idea how crushing his energy policies would be for them.

The average price for a barrel of domestic oil in May of this year was $97.67. That is nearly triple the price when Biden was elected. Once you understand the law of supply and demand it becomes crystal clear that none of Biden’s policies, not one, could have resulted in lower gasoline prices. Let’s take a look at a few of his policies that forced gas prices higher. In his first week he cancelled the Keystone XL Pipeline. The pipeline was designed to carry some 800-900,000 barrels of crude oil a day from Canada, and was scheduled to be finished by now. He cancelled the issuance of new drilling leases and permits on all government owned property as well as in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and off the Gulf Coast. His administration has coerced lending institutions to slow, or eliminate, their lending of money to explorers and drillers. Smaller oil producers can’t afford to finance exploration projects, so many have stopped exploring. It can take many months, and tens of millions of dollars, to bring new gas and oil wells on line and producing. What responsible oil CEO would enter into such a risky venture when the POTUS has vowed to end the use of all fossil fuels in the USA in the immediate future?

Poor Uncle Joe has been dragged by Progressives and environmentalists farther and farther to the left. He has haplessly moved our country away from what the majority of American people want. The Progressive Left has been pretty clear about its desire to turn our country into a socialistic hellhole. The recent hypocrisy of the environmentalists suggests a similar agenda. Think about it. It is much better for the environment to transport oil via pipelines than it is to ship it by truck or by train. I saw a chart that said tanker trucks carry an average of about 200 barrels of crude, and rail cars carry an average of around 700 barrels. Long division suggests that we would need about 1,185 rail cars, or 4,150 tanker trucks, EVERY DAY to replace the volume the Keystone XL Pipeline was scheduled to deliver. The crude oil we produce in the U.S. is cleaner than that produced anywhere else in the world. When the President cancelled all of the projects mentioned above, he couldn’t cancel the demand for crude oil. So now he is begging for oil that is produced in countries that are much less environmentally friendly than domestic producers. If the Greenies were serious about protecting the environment they would be demanding that the oil we consume in the U.S. be produced in the U.S.

If the political elites cared about the well-being of their constituents they would do the right thing. They would be pushing what has come to be known as the “all of the above” policy. That suggests using an intelligent mix of fossil fuels, nuclear, and renewable energy. Intelligent people understand that the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow. The U.S. is the leading country in the world when it comes to producing, and burning, cleaner fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are, and will be needed, to provide energy for industrial and residential needs well into the future. Technology, if encouraged, would continue to produce even cleaner fossil fuels. Given the policies of our current President we shouldn’t be surprised if future R & D in this critical sector is stopped. Who would spend the billions of dollars necessary to produce ever cleaner fossil fuels in an industry that is going to be discontinued?

Countries that control their future supply of energy control their destinies. Those that don’t, become second class, beggar nations. Because of that, energy is a matter of national security. There is a possibility that someday my children or grandchildren will live in a world that is 100% fueled by renewable energy. (I don’t think so). Until then it is foolish, even churlish, to force higher prices on citizens who can least afford it. Only in politics does intellect surrender to ideology. Only in politics are the needs of people, indeed the very lives of people, considered collateral damage to the insatiable drive for power.

President Biden, despite his comments to the contrary, has done absolutely nothing substantive about reducing gas prices or the raging inflation we are witnessing today. His releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is a pathetic joke. If he cared about the American people he would reverse all of the energy policies he put in place early in his presidency. He would commit to maintain, even guarantee, a market for fossil fuels into the foreseeable future. In short, he could repeat his penchant for plagiarism and say “drill baby drill!” It would prove to Americans that he cares about their future more than that of his Progressive Leftist friends. Don’t hold your breath.

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog. If you found it interesting and/or informative please tell your friends about it. Bob