Array
If President Joe Biden was looking for a gift for former President Jimmy Carter’s 98th birthday, his mishandling of the OPEC situation sure fits the bill. For all the current administration’s shortcomings and failures, they have been remarkably effective at waging war on America’s energy producers. Everyone in America is paying the price – literally – and suddenly the Carter years are looking better in retrospect.
The Biden administration may have expressed anger at the announcement from OPEC – a rogue’s gallery of 15 oil-producing countries that includes Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela – that it was slashing oil production by 2 million barrels a day in November. But this was not an isolated incident. It was a long time in the making and exacerbated by Biden and his adherence to the green movement every step of the way.
As a candidate, Biden stated, “I guarantee you we’re going to end fossil fuels.” As president, he has made good on that promise, cancelling pipelines, leasing fewer acres of federal land for oil and gas drilling since World War II and showing nothing but disdain and outright hostility toward America’s domestic energy producers. Even before Hurricane Ian made landfall, Biden was wagging his finger at the private sector, issuing ominous warnings, “do not use this as an excuse to raise gasoline prices or gouge the American people.”
With domestic supply shrinking and demand accelerating post-pandemic, prices shot up and Biden’s approval numbers tanked.
