you don't think doing things that lowers our output

Posted on: October 7, 2022 at 16:13:34 CT

like not signing oil leases and cancelling keystone; which would have been up and running this year, and promoting policies that disincentive refining expansion and oil exploration and production have ANYTHING to do with the price of oil?

Here are 25 decisions the president has made over the last year that have affected gas prices, home heating costs, and other energy-related burdens U.S. families and businesses face.

#1 and 2: Adopting new EPA oil and gas rules
In November 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency announced new regulations governing methane emissions from oil and gas production, transmission, storage, and distribution that would cost more than $1 billion a year.

Last spring, Biden signed a resolution that overturned Trump administration reforms to EPA oil and gas rules. This resolution will worsen energy poverty, reestablish burdensome regulations, and have a disproportionate impact on small businesses.

#3, #4, #5, #6, #7, and #8: Restricting or impeding energy projects
One of Biden’s first actions after taking office was to halt new oil and gas leases on federal lands and waters, the Biden administration has delayed decisions on these leases — a move that results in higher energy costs for the most vulnerable consumers.

The administration canceled the Keystone XL pipeline and suspended oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and New Mexico (despite opposition from the Navajo Nation). It also resurrected the “Waters of the United States” rule, which would increase barriers to energy projects.

The White House is pursuing new standards for particulate matter and ozone, likely tightening them to unachievable levels for much of the country and creating new barriers for energy project permits.

The president also has rescinded Endangered Species Act reforms, a move that will increase red tape and allow litigation to slow down energy projects.

#9: Rejoining the Paris agreement
In April 2021, without the consent of Congress, Biden rejoined the Paris agreement, which will result in onerous new regulations that could raise energy costs.

#10: Appointing unaccountable energy regulators
The president has created several bodies within the White House charged with creating new policies to regulate energy. The people who run these councils are unelected and do not need Senate confirmation, but they have been given broad powers to come up with new executive actions — which do not need consent from Congress — to regulate U.S. energy production.

#11: Forcing states to restrict driving
One section of the recently enacted Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, supported by the White House, would require every U.S. state to develop state carbon-reduction plans that must be approved by the U.S. Department of Transportation as well as be updated every four years.

These plans are aimed at reducing driving all over the country — even for people in rural areas where public transportation is limited, and driving is the only option.

#12, #13, and #14: Raising the prices of cars and trucks
The Biden administration has failed to take adequate action on annual requirements and small refinery waivers for the Renewable Fuel Standard and in providing regulatory relief from this biofuel mandate due to economic hardship. His EPA has finalized a new rule regulating greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks. That single regulation could raise the average vehicle price by $1,000.

#15: Instituting a new policy on carbon taxes in organized wholesale electricity markets
This carbon pricing policy statement, issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in April 2021, is a blanket endorsement of top-down policies that have been demonstrated to be costly, ineffective, regressive, and consistently rejected by the American people.

#16: Raising the prices of common household necessities
The EPA has issued a final rule to phase out a common, inexpensive refrigerant. This policy is a de facto tax on air conditioning and refrigeration.

#17: Stifling energy innovation
In May 2021, Biden issued a sweeping executive order that mobilized federal agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, to enforce mandates on businesses, insurers, retirement funds, and suppliers. These policies will stifle innovation critical to improving the environment and will increase costs for a wide variety of businesses.

#18: Altering regulatory cost analyses
The Biden administration has changed key inputs for economic and regulatory analysis, including raising the “social cost” of greenhouse gases. These policies will mask the true consumer cost of regulatory actions.

#19 and #20: Imposing new costs on power generation
The administration attempted to resurrect an aggressive version of the Clean Power Plan for power sector mandates called the Clean Electricity Standard.

In the Fall 2021 Unified Agenda, the EPA stated their intention to propose what can be considered the Clean Power Plan 2.0. This policy would impose burdensome regulations but would have little or no environmental benefit.

The EPA also has mandated that even facilities with reduced emissions must remain on the list of “major” sources, subjecting these facilities to permitting burdens and higher costs.

#21: Impeding Americans exports
The administration is considering potential restrictions on the export of crude oil that would increase, not decrease, energy prices.

#22 and #23: Raising taxes
More than one-quarter of the administration-backed Build Back Better agenda is pulled directly from the “Green New Deal.” The Build Back Better agenda includes new taxes on natural gas and home heating. It also includes new taxes on petroleum and manufacturing.

#24: Picking energy winners and losers

The Build Back Better agenda would spend taxpayer dollars to push utilities to adopt more costly, politically preferred forms of energy, a move that would reduce Americans’ energy choices.

#25: Fueling the fire for future regulation
Finally, through the Civilian Climate Corps, Build Back Better would fund the salaries of tens of thousands of anti-energy activists who would perpetuate high energy costs by demanding new and costly federal regulations and legislation.

Unlike releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, these 25 steps are not just a “drop in the ocean.”

They have made, and will continue to make, a significant impact on Americans’ ability to afford the energy products that fuel their lives and livelihoods.