From: https://tinyurl.com/2p97ne3d (nypost.com)

Yes, you can blame Biden for crazy gas prices-here's why
By Michael Shellenberger

July 2, 2022 12:03pm

President Biden has blamed Vladimir Putin and greedy gas companies for
the high cost of gas, when it's his policies - blocking new refineries
and preventing refinery expansion - that have actually pushed up prices
at the pump to record highs this July 4. President Biden has blamed
Vladimir Putin and greedy gas companies for the high cost of gas, when
it's his policies -- blocking new refineries and preventing refinery
expansion -- that have actually pushed up prices at the pump to record
highs this July 4.

This July 4th, as you fill up your car or truck, you might be tempted to
blame President Joe Biden for high gasoline prices.

You shouldn't, say some experts. It's Russian President Vladimir Putin's
fault, they say. The US had to cut off Russian oil imports to punish Putin
for invading Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Biden himself has blamed the American energy industry.

"At a time of war," Biden wrote in an open letter to the industry on June
15, "high refinery profit margins being passed directly onto American
families are not acceptable... companies must take immediate actions to
increase the supply of gasoline, diesel, and other refined product."

But US refineries are already operating at 94 percent of their capacity,
with US refineries in the Gulf of Mexico running at 98 percent, which is
the highest rate in 30 years. Running refineries at a higher capacity than
that risks damaging the equipment. As such, Biden isn't just wrong, he
insulted some of the hardest working people operating in one of the most
dangerous industries in America.

If Biden wants more American fuel, then he should allow the building of
new refineries, right?

For high gas prices, President Biden has pointed the finger at the energy
industry while others blame Putin.President Biden blocked plans to open up
more than one million acres of land in Alaska for oil and gas drilling
this year.

But, on May 12, Biden's Interior Department blocked a proposal to open up
more than one million acres of land in Alaska for oil and gas drilling.
Two days later, Biden's Environmental Protection Agency blocked plans to
expand an oil refinery in the US Virgin Islands.

Biden and his defenders said he had to block the expansion of the Virgin
Islands refinery, given how polluting it was.

But had Biden's EPA allowed the Virgin Island refinery to expand, the
owners would have poured nearly $3 billion into retrofitting the plant so
it produced gasoline and other products more cleanly, while significantly
increasing production at the same time.

US refineries are already operating at 94 percent of their capacity, with
US refineries in the Gulf of Mexico running at 98 percent, which is the
highest rate in 30 years.US refineries are already operating at 94 percent
of their capacity, with US refineries in the Gulf of Mexico running at 98
percent - the highest rate in 30 years.

Furthermore, anybody who cares about air pollution and climate change
should want more oil and gas drilling, not less. US emissions declined 22%
between 2005 and 2020, mostly because cheap natural gas has replaced coal.

In truth, there are many things Biden could have done, and still should
do, to lower energy prices. He could invoke the National Defense Act to
accelerate the rate of oil and gas permits. He could set a floor of
$80/barrel for re-filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), which
would be a powerful incentive for the industry, because it would prevent
prices from falling to unprofitable levels. Biden could announce trade
agreements with American allies to supply them with liquified natural gas,
which would incentivize more natural gas production and lower prices.

To punish Putin, Biden has stopped buying oil from Russia.If Biden got
America on a wartime footing, as he should be given Putin's aggression in
Europe, we would see the lowering of energy prices in less than one
year.

If Biden got America on a wartime footing, as he should be given Russia's
aggression in Europe, we would see the lowering of oil, gas and petroleum
prices in less than one year.

Why won't Biden do it? Because he has declared war on fossil fuels. "I
guarantee you, we're going to end fossil fuel," Biden promised a student
climate activist in 2019. "I am not going to cooperate with them," he
said, referring to the oil and gas industry.

And indeed, he hasn't. When oil and gas executives visited the White House
in June, Biden snubbed them by refusing to attend the meeting. Instead, at
the very same moment, he met with wind industry executives. A few days
earlier, Biden administration officials signaled they may support a large
new tax on the oil industry proposed by a Senator from Oregon.

At the G-7 meeting in Germany earlier this week, French President Emmanuel
Macron was overheard telling Biden that he couldn't count on Saudi Arabia
and the United Arab Emirates to produce much more oil.At the G-7 meeting
earlier this week, French President Emmanuel Macron was overheard telling
Biden he couldn't count on Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to
produce much more oil. In short, the US needs to produce more.

All of this has soured the oil and gas industry on investing in
production. "If you were an oil company," a senior executive at a major
US bank told me, why would you invest hundreds of millions of dollars
into expanding refining capacity if you thought the federal government or
investors would shut you down in the next few years? The narrative
coming from the administration is absolutely insane."

And it's about to get more insane. At the G-7 meeting in Germany earlier
this week, French President Emmanuel Macron was overheard telling Biden
that he couldn't count on Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to
produce much more oil. Implicit in Macron's remarks was that the US needs
to produce far more than Biden has been willing to allow.

The problem is that Biden is in the grip of a pro-scarcity ideology that
demands humankind return to relying 100 percent on renewables, like we did
before the industrial revolution. But that's a delusion. Solar panels and
electric cars, which rely on lithium battery power, have indeed become
cheaper in recent years, but that's mostly because China uses coerced
Uyghur Muslim labor to produce those batteries. If those technologies were
made in the US by workers paid a living wage, they would never be
affordable.

On energy, as with so many other issues in recent years, you can't believe
the experts. They, too, are motivated by the pro-scarcity, romantic
delusions that animate Biden's energy agenda.

And so, when you fill up your car or truck, and you feel tempted to blame
President Biden for high gasoline prices, go right ahead. Because it
really is his fault.

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