Voters had at least one clear message on Election Day. The goal was to remove policy obstacles to expanding fossil energy production, particularly U.S. oil and natural gas production. The reason is obvious. Producing more fossil energy more efficiently has enormous economic benefits for millions of working Americans and for the productivity of the economy as a whole.
Voters focused on energy policy played a central role in this election, especially in battleground states such as Pennsylvania and Michigan. Pennsylvania is second only to Texas in natural gas production. between states. The Biden administration opposes expanding natural gas exports, and Vice President Harris seeks to reverse her previous promise to ban hydraulic fracturing It wasn't completely convincing.
Pennsylvania voters accepted that even without a “ban,” it would do little to prevent President Harris from lifting regulations that would ultimately severely constrain domestic energy production. It was easy to understand. and, Suspend new LNG export projects Whatever the fluctuating and inconsistent rationale for the suspension's purpose, it is likely to continue, no matter what its justification.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm recently said: Department of Energy plans to release study results soon Regarding export of liquefied gas. Such an “investigation” would allow opponents of new LNG export projects to challenge the Trump administration's approval, further throwing sand at the approval process.
There is significant room for improvement under direct federal control. New leases for exploration activities on federal lands (and waters) will increase from 1,841 in 2019 to 144 in 2023 as the Biden administration seeks to minimize the number of leases allowed under federal law. decreased. The incoming Trump administration can and will expand leasing on federal lands. As a result, oil and gas production on federal lands would increase with a lag of two to four years.
There is also the issue of energy security. This is especially important in the context of growing U.S. LNG exports as a competitor to natural gas and LNG sent from producers in Russia and the Middle East to allies in Europe and Asia. Instability, hostilities, terrorist threats, and politicized delivery disruptions from such sources are not imaginary. U.S. LNG exports enjoy significant inherent competitive advantages precisely because of the stability of U.S. production and exports. Biden's curbs on new LNG export projects simply throw away that benefit, with no compensatory benefit for anyone other than Russia and the Middle East producing countries. What justifies such a perverted result?
These are one of the main reasons Trump kept Pennsylvania after losing it in 2020. It is also clear that Dave McCormick's narrow loss to longtime Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey would not have happened without Harris' signature LNG pause and incoherence. be. ”Energy Platform.
Consider Michigan, a major center of automobile production and employment in the United States. The Biden administration's regulatory attempts to force a large-scale transition to electric vehicles, substituting central planning for market forces, have resulted in significant economic losses for auto producers and automakers. . For thousands of skilled blue-collar workers at GM, Ford, and Stellantis, the threat of layoffs is real.
The negative indirect employment impact is also significant, affecting a whole range of designers, engineers, tool makers, and other professionals who provide critical services to automakers.
Vice President Harris said it is clear that Biden's EV mandate will impose significant costs on Michigan's economy and communities, even though polls generally show deep opposition among voters. , was unable to clarify his position on Biden's EV mandate policy.
When Blue Rose Research pollster David Scholl presented voters with a series of signature actions from the Biden administration at an event hosted by the Breakthrough Institute last summer, he said an EV mandate would: He said it was.It literally makes people more likely to vote Republican.So it's no surprise that after losing Michigan in 2020, Trump again led the state with nearly 50 percent of the vote.
Elected officials are concerned first and foremost with being elected. One path toward that goal became clear in recent elections. While the efficient production of natural gas and other forms of conventional energy is a powerhouse of enhanced economic growth, policies that curtail its production are extremely harmful to ordinary working Americans.
Benjamin Zycher is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
