Europe's Energy Crisis Casts a Gigantic Shadow on the Biden Administration's Energy Follies

Several weeks ago, we warned that Europe faces a looming energy crisis indicating that Europeans may face another Dark Ages ahead.  Europe’s problems represent self-inflicted wounds given their decision to shut down coal-fired and atomic energy plants and then depend on Russia for energy. These problems are, of course, worsened because of ill-considered decision-making by the Biden Administration. Not content with blocking the Keystone pipeline and not satisfied with blocking oil and gas leases, the Biden Administration is now committing basic math errors that delay gas and oil permitting, thus decreasing offshore energy production.

Whether this was a deliberate or unintentional error, it was acknowledged in April 2022, and this error has real consequences. Demonstrating that basic mathematical competence exceeds the capacity of the Biden Administration, the National Marine Fisheries Service overestimated the impact drilling has on sea animals and then compounded its error by refusing to correct this mistake promptly.

That said, this error and the failure to correct it promptly are actions that are consistent with President Biden’s push for Green Energy and the Left’s push to increase Americans’ dependence on unreliable and unstable sources of energy. This dependence can be highlighted by California’s push to sell only electric cars, a move that coincides with the state’s request that electric vehicle owners delay charging their cars with fossil-generated electricity during recent blackouts. No one should be surprised since California's policy failures are regular occurrences.

Evidently, California’s energy policy failures are contagious since President Biden continues his missteps on energy. At the same time, European energy protests are erupting because Europeans do not want to freeze to death this winter because of the energy strain caused by the war between Russia and Ukraine. Due to Europe’s energy woes, which have led to Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) deliveries from the United States, protests are exploding in Paris, Switzerland, Great Britain, and Germany. Nevertheless, not content with simply giving up U.S. energy independence, the Biden Administration has decided to insult our oil-rich allies in the Middle East. This was a strategic error, and Americans will likely pay the price.

Trying to recover from this self-inflicted wound, President Biden has again decided to tap our strategic petroleum reserves in a vain attempt to tamp down prices before the November 2022 midterm elections. This act of desperation is designed to prevent gas prices from exceeding $4.00 per gallon before Election Day. The Biden policy is intended to deceive the American people and then allow them to fend for themselves after this year’s elections. President Biden’s energy policy initiative will release 10 to 12 million barrels total from the reserve.

Tapping American strategic petroleum reserves is simply an act of deception and distraction. This is so because OPEC has decided to cut the oil supply by 2 million barrels daily. This means that Biden’s decision to tap the petroleum reserve will offset OPEC’s cut for between 5 and 7 days. This desperate policy initiative comes into focus because the New England states depend heavily on Liquified Natural Gas, which the Biden Administration is now shipping to Europe. Reflecting likely gas shortages ahead, spot LNG prices are now sky-high and will likely move higher this winter, likely leading to energy blackouts when energy is most needed in the dead of winter. These issues are compounded because of a lack of pipeline capacity, which would otherwise be available to send much-needed natural gas to New England this winter.

This gloomy picture suggests that many Americans, but New Englanders, in particular, will face a looming Dark Age ahead. Notwithstanding this reality, this week, President Biden was content to slurp an ice cream cone in Portland, Oregon, while claiming the U.S. economy is in great shape. His claim represents nothing less than a brain freeze that recalls Marie Antoinette’s statement to the poor Parisians: “Let them eat cake.”

It is time to restore our focus on U.S. energy independence rather than the President’s choice of ice cream flavors. Equally important, it is time to restore competence to Washington, D.C.  Join us as the ACLJ continues to fight against the globalist elites in the Biden Administration.