White House called out over Kirby's remarks on oil drilling permits: 'Defunded' US energy 'from day one'

The White House is facing criticism over President Biden's energy policy after NSC strategic communications director John Kirby suggested there are plenty of available oil drilling permits that energy companies are choosing not to utilize. 

ClimateDepot.com publisher Marc Morano joined "Fox & Friends First" Tuesday to discuss the issues surrounding the permit process and the broader impact of Biden's policies on the energy market. 

"They had defunded the oil and gas industry from day one through executive orders, through the Treasury Department, through pushing environment, social governance, ESG," Morano told co-host Carley Shimkus. "And they've also allowed these environmental groups in sometimes in collusion with the feds to sue."

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"So they give a permit, but then they get tied up for years and years and years, and the funding is questionable, and of course, the future permits are questionable, so that is just a red herring argument," he continued. 

Kirby came under fire for comments he made earlier this week after Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked him why the president is outsourcing oil drilling to Venezuela. 

His remarks came shortly after a report surfaced revealing the Biden administration green-lighted a plan for Chevron to resume drilling in the socialist country.

"The president has issued 9,000 permits for drilling on U.S. federal lands, Peter, 9,000 of them being unused," Kirby said in response. "There are plenty of opportunities for oil and gas companies to drill here in the United States."

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But critics have been quick to ridicule the White House over Kirby's comments and the report, citing ample energy resources domestically that would be able to counter rising energy prices. 

"It's not like the Biden administration is opposed to energy extraction and drilling, no, they're just opposed to it domestically for cheap political accounting tricks that claim that they're fighting global warming while offshoring," Morano said. "This is something that Americans have to recognize."

Former Keystone XL Pipeline worker Neil Crabtree, who lost his job when Biden shut down the pipeline, joined "Fox & Friends" on Tuesday to discuss how red tape has hampered the ability to secure drilling permits. 

"I think it's a bit of a smoke and mirrors," Crabtree told Steve Doocy. "There's a huge difference between the government making leases available and actually issuing the permits. There may be 1,000 spots that we could drill, but the same administration that's making the leases available also control the permits. And right now, the permitting process in this country is ridiculous."

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"There's probably a dozen different agencies that have their hands in it, and any one of them can shut you down at any time," he continued. "I would really like to see something done where one agency controlled the permitting for all energy projects in this country, but that's probably something that another president will have to tackle."

Crabtree also mentioned his disappointment in the Biden administration's willingness to invest in another nation's energy industry, namely Venezuela's, while refusing to do the same for American companies. 

"I guess when you support socialist ideas, you support socialist countries," he said.