American energy for the American people

By U.S. Rep. Tom Cole
R-Oklahoma

On President Joe Biden’s first week in office, he implemented several misguided and destructive energy policies including issuing moratoriums on new oil, gas and coal leasing and permitting on federal lands and canceling the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. As a result, our nation is relying on foreign nations for our energy needs and Americans are paying exponentially more to put gas in their vehicles and to cool and heat their homes.

Unfortunately, instead reversing his decisions, last week the president furthered his problematic agenda to force his radical green energy agenda on the country by ending more fossil fuel drilling on 10.8 million acres of land in Alaska. The president’s decision to stifle what is left of our energy production here at home will not only disrupt our economy even more, but it could also cost thousands more American jobs, including in indigenous communities.

Now that our nation has been forced to rely on other foreign nations because of the Biden Administration’s war on North American energy, it was also disturbing to learn last week that Saudi Arabia leadership announced that the country will be extending its output cuts. This will put nations around the globe at risk to face large deficits and further raise prices on Americans even more. If President Joe Biden would end his war on North American energy and instead unleash our energy producing capabilities here at home, the United States would not be nearly so vulnerable to foreign production and international supply decisions.

Because of poor energy policy, prices at the pump have reached a seasonal high at a time of year when prices tend to moderate. The rising gas prices are also causing inflation to rise even more. In fact, inflation rose more in the month of August than economists expected due to the rising costs of food and energy. The producer price index increased a seasonally adjusted 0.7 percent in August, higher than the 0.4 percent estimate and the biggest monthly gain since June 2022. Economists point to the rising cost in energy prices for the reason of this increase as the PPI energy index rose 10.5 percent on the month, spurred by a 20 percent surge in gasoline. In addition, the consumer price index last month rose 0.6 percent monthly and 3.7 percent from last year.

House Republicans are committed to restoring energy security and unleashing American energy dominance. So far this year, House Republicans have passed several critical pieces of legislation including the Lower Energy Costs Act, the Strategic Production Response Act and the Protecting America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve from China Act that would put an end to and reverse the president’s bad energy policies. And this week, the House will vote on, and I plan to support, the Unlocking our Domestic LNG Potential Act of 2023. By removing export restrictions on American liquefied natural gas (LNG), this legislation would strengthen the U.S. economy, boost domestic energy production and prevent our adversaries and OPEC nations from undermining our energy security.  

Before President Biden took office, our country was nearly energy independent and prices at the pumps and to cool and heat homes were affordable for all Americans. The Biden Administration will certainly be remembered for the destruction of this critical industry in the United States. The president cannot neglect our need for energy independence any longer, but unfortunately continues to lead us in the wrong direction.