Now Is the Time To Unleash American Energy

High gas prices for American families, high costs of living and operating businesses due to ever-increasing inflation, soaring fertilizer prices for American farmers, and a devastating war in Ukraine that has roiled global energy markets – these are all difficult realities Americans are having to grapple with right now.  Frustratingly, each of these problems could have been mitigated if the Trump Administration’s energy policies had not been abandoned by the Biden Administration. We could have deterred Putin from pursuing his disastrous war that has destroyed much of Ukraine and ruptured the world's economy.

In the Trump Administration, we ensured our allies were not dependent on Russian energy. We sanctioned and stopped the completion of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline; and by establishing American energy independence and dominance, we were able to ship the world’s cleanest fossil fuels to our partners cheaply and efficiently. As a former Secretary of State, I know that energy dominance gave America enormous power and was an essential tool in our diplomatic efforts. Nearly every discussion I had with presidents, prime ministers, and foreign ministers involved American energy.

The abandonment of our policies by President Biden gave Vladimir Putin immediate power and leverage in Europe. The flow of Russian oil, natural gas, and coal enriched Putin’s circle, solidifying his domestic power, while also giving him direct leverage over consuming states, especially Germany, and worst of all, financed his build up to war. These were avoidable circumstances that the Biden Administration gifted to Vladimir Putin through its backward energy policies.

President Biden is only now waking up to the wisdom of the Trump Administration’s policies in Europe:  It took a war to shake him from his slumber. The Biden Administration is now, belatedly, pursuing a partnership with the European Union to reduce European reliance on Russia for its energy needs.

Driven by progressive climate change activists, President Biden’s Administration has been hostile to American oil, natural gas, coal, and nuclear power from Day One. If not for the enactment of policies that hampered these vital sectors of our economy, both the United States and Europe would have been in a much better position strategically and might have deterred Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine.

Inflation and high energy prices at home are crushing all Americans. Soaring costs for fertilizer and fuel are devastating American farmers, and the rising cost to fill up at the gas station is a literal tax increase on American families. Revitalizing our energy industry would alleviate these burdens quickly, and it can be done because it’s exactly what we did in the Trump Administration in a single term. We understand that Americans are concerned about clean energy, and that is why we need to continue to support renewables and nuclear energy as key elements of a new national policy of electricity for humanity; but American oil and natural gas are the answer in the short- and even long-term.

President Biden should immediately reverse his order canceling the Keystone XL pipeline and commit his Administration to reestablishing American energy dominance. Such policies would go a long way toward stabilizing both our domestic and foreign challenges.  It would provide certainty in the American energy market and reduce prices quickly.

Though this seems like a solution so simple that even Joe Biden could figure it out, we shouldn’t hold out hope he will. The Biden Administration’s skewed vision of reality has placed climate change – not the American economy or our security ─ as its top priority, and this is sadly unlikely to change. It was telling that the climate czar John Kerry – not our Secretary of State ─ was the first senior official to make official visits to both Russia and China. By projecting climate change as our top priority above everything else, Team Biden will continue to project weakness.

During his recent address to our European allies in Poland, Biden stated, “We have to stay fully, totally, thoroughly united.” Unity without direction, though, is not worth much when it comes to deterring our adversaries. Deterrence only works when our enemies know our mettle and believe our capabilities can pose a credible risk to their plans or objectives. And in fact, Biden’s recent remarks on the relationship of sanctions and deterrence makes one wonder if he comprehends the concept.

We must unleash the power of American energy; we must redouble our efforts to export clean energy, including liquified natural gas and clean coal, to our allies in Europe and in the Indo-Pacific. If President Biden is unwilling to do this, if he is unwilling to lead our country rather than listen to the singularly focused climate activists who are currently driving the White House’s failed policies, then we should ensure his Administration is checked by Republican acumen: by our winning big in the upcoming midterm elections, reversing his green-obsessed energy policy, and getting back to American energy dominance.

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