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If Congressional Republicans are to deliver on our promise of a strong economy and stable prices, they would be wise to quickly unwind the disastrous energy policies the Biden-Harris administration has imposed on one of America's most important industries.
President Biden is spending his final days in office rubbing salt in the wounds of America's energy sector. Most recently, the Biden-Harris administration implemented yet another offshore drilling ban on more than 625 million acres of U.S. coastline. He used an obscure 1953 law to ban all future leasing in restricted coastal areas, making it extremely difficult for the incoming Trump administration to reverse course.
President Biden is not only ignoring American voters by pushing through new and harmful energy policies after his party lost the White House, but he is also ignoring President Trump's efforts to revive the American economy and ease inflation. Making it even more difficult.
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The Biden-Harris administration knows that high energy prices will cause inflation and slow economic growth, and has taken every opportunity to make fossil fuel-based energy production more expensive.
President Biden shut down the Keystone XL pipeline, costing thousands of American jobs. He has initiated more than 125 administrative actions to terminate leases and stop development of new energy sources. He also banned all new development of liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals in the United States, putting several facilities in Louisiana at risk. His administration did everything it could to impose costly new regulations on U.S. energy producers.
The anti-energy policies of the Biden-Harris administration have driven inflation for the past four years. As of December, the average American was paying 29% more for electricity and 31% more for gas than they were in the first month of President Biden's inauguration. Louisiana families paid nearly $1,000 more to keep their lights on and their gas tanks full in 2024 alone.
Rising energy and gas prices have also increased operating costs for businesses. If a grocery store is paying 29% more to keep its refrigeration system running and 31% more for the fuel needed to transport produce, the company has no choice but to raise prices on everything else. As a result, Louisiana residents are paying $1,500 more a year for groceries than they did before Biden took office.
The only way our country can climb out from under President Biden's high prices is if the economy grows rapidly, and we know that high energy prices slow economic growth.
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President Trump will need every tool at his disposal to restore America's energy independence and lay the foundation for its future. Congress will help. We should demand that the Home Office approve more lease sales, particularly offshore. The department is to adhere to a schedule of at least two lease sales each year. The Biden-Harris administration did not conduct any lease sales last year.
Existing federal regulations also lengthen the permit approval process, crippling LNG and oil producers. Congress could reform the bureaucratic permitting process to reduce unnecessary judicial review and allow reviews to occur in parallel rather than sequentially.
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In 2019, presidential candidate Biden told activists, “I guarantee you, we're going to phase out fossil fuels.” Currently, Americans' real wages have still not kept pace with inflation, and Russia has overtaken us as the European Union's largest LNG supplier.
It will take a concerted effort to undo all of President Biden's destructive energy policies, and Congressional Republicans should be ready to take the handcuffs off American energy.
