Gasoline prices surge under Biden’s watch

Can a U.S. president be against oil and gas production in the U.S. and for increased oil and gas production overseas?

Can a president be in favor of reducing fossil fuel consumption and in favor of lowering gasoline prices?

Can a president be against low-cost ways to get oil and gas from North American oil fields to consumers and for transporting oil and gas across thousands of miles of ocean?

If the president is Joe Biden, the answer to all of the above is, “Yes.”

Since Biden became president, the nationwide price of gasoline surged from $2.42 per gallon to $3.38 per gallon. Even at COVID-19-reduced usage levels, this costs consumers $337 million per day or $123 billion per year. The total cost to consumers including oil and gas used to generate heat and electricity plus all other forms of transportation is much higher.

All of this contributed to the 6.2% rate of inflation for the 12 months just ended.

Instead of celebrating the increase in price which is undoubtedly hastening the movement toward battery-powered vehicles and reduced energy consumption generally, the Biden administration is scrambling to respond to voter anger.

Is the administration rethinking its cancellation of the Keystone pipeline that would have brought Canadian oil to U.S. refineries? No.

Is it rethinking its decision to pause oil and gas leasing on federal land? No.

What is Biden doing? He is lobbying OPEC to increase production and lower prices.

This is the height of hypocrisy. Is it bad to produce oil and gas at home but OK to produce it someplace else? Is it bad to send oil and gas through pipelines here but OK to ship it across the oceans in giant tankers? Is it bad to have U.S. workers and companies make money and pay taxes producing energy at home but OK to ship billions of dollars to producers in the Middle East and elsewhere?

The difference between the rhetoric that climate change is an imminent, existential threat and action begging for more production of cheaper oil could not be starker. It is precisely the behavior called out by activist Greta Thunberg.

Here’s what Thunberg said in her speech at the Youth4Climate summit.

“Build back better. Blah, blah, blah. Green economy. Blah blah blah. Net zero by 2050. Blah, blah, blah. This is all we hear from our socalled leaders. Words that sound great but so far have not led to action. Our hopes and ambitions drown in their empty promises.”