Biden's climate agenda is crazy: Rick Perry
Former Energy secretary addresses rising energy costs on 'Hannity.'
President Joe Biden has accomplished in just 14 months what many thought was impossible — surpassing President Jimmy Carter as the most incompetent steward of the American economy.
Biden just broke another record, leaving Americans saddled with 8.5 percent inflation — energy alone is up 32 percent since last year.
BIDEN ADMINISTRATION RESUMES OIL AND GAS LEASES ON FEDERAL LANDS AS GASOLINE PRICES SOAR
A caricature sticker of President Joe Biden pointing to high gas prices on a gasoline pump is visible in Lafayette, California, November 9, 2021. Photo courtesy Sftm. (Photo by Gado/Getty Images) (Gado/Getty Images)
Those of us who lived through the ’70s remember the fuel lines at the pump, staggering inflation, and Soviet aggression. There was a sense that America was in decline. What Carter termed "malaise" was actually the product of his terrible policies that hollowed out the middle class while inviting tyrants and adversaries to test American strength.
When our leaders don’t learn the lessons of the past, "history does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme." President Biden’s actions to date appear to be directly taken from President Carter’s playbook.
Excessive spending and anti-supply-side policies have contributed to the worst inflation since the Carter era. Instead of invading Afghanistan, the Russians have invaded another neighbor: Ukraine. But they were emboldened to do so by President Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from the same country — Afghanistan — where the Soviets were mired in a war they couldn’t win. And, of course, we have disastrous energy policies reminiscent of the Carter era, leading to record high prices at the pump and a major missed opportunity to bring stability to Europe.
Biden aims to take federal lands and waters out of play for energy exploration — the Gulf of Mexico alone accounts for 15-16 percent of U.S. oil production. His regulators have made it nearly impossible to build new pipelines to transport gas or build liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities. Massachusetts alone represents 60 percent of U.S. LNG imports, while neighboring state Pennsylvania has enough energy to be the world’s fourth-largest producer if it were its own nation. But liberal policies have prevented the transport of Pennsylvania energy north and east.
Biden is now reigniting nuclear negotiations with Iran, in part, to get more Iranian oil and gas into the European market. The irony of this policy, and Europe’s continued reliance on Russian oil and gas despite the application of sanctions, is that many of America’s sources of natural gas are cleaner than what hostile nations can bring to market. In other words, by opposing domestic production, environmental radicals are enabling greater emissions on a global basis. The hypocrisy is stunning.
If Americans don’t already realize it, let’s state the obvious: energy security is national security. And either America returns to a policy of flooding the global market with our resources, helping to liberate friends and allies from hostile sources, or we empower and embolden tyrants in the Middle East and Moscow.
The price Americans pay at the pump began to soar long before Russia amassed troops on the Ukrainian border. Between January 2021 and October 2021, gasoline prices rose 99 cents per gallon.
FILE PHOTO: An oil worker walks toward a drill rig after placing ground monitoring equipment in the vicinity of the underground horizontal drill in Loving County, Texas, U.S., November 22, 2019. (Reuters/Angus Mordant)
In response to soaring prices, Biden tapped the Strategic Petroleum Reserve — a stockpile of crude oil designed to shield the U.S. from real emergencies like natural disasters and foreign conflict that disrupt production, not an incompetent energy policy. The president’s current draw downs of this reserve have resulted in approximately one-third of the total stockpile being squandered on Biden’s price-fixing efforts and only providing a band-aid for the 1.4 million barrels a day his Administration’s failed policies have eliminated.
Hurricane season is around the corner in the oil and gas producing Gulf of Mexico. We can only hope a true emergency doesn’t occur as Americans face further supply disruptions.
Republican activists seek drivers' attention as they work to register voters to their party at a gas station in Garden Grove, California, U.S., March 29, 2022. Picture taken March 29, 2022. REUTERS/Mike Blake (REUTERS/Mike Blake)
Biden and the liberals in Congress are now on track to bring back the Windfall Profit Tax — a Carter favorite. His budget request for 2023 includes 11 disastrous tax hikes on the fossil fuel industry. The recent inflation numbers should be a clear signal to abandon this disastrous war on fossil fuels.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE OPINION NEWSLETTER
We are already facing skyrocketing gas prices. American consumers in the southwest are crossing the border into Mexico to save on filling their tanks. For a Nation that has such energy abundance, this is unacceptable.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
President Carter assumed office during a difficult period for the American economy, and his policies led to further difficulties for Americans and created a period of economic recession. Biden is now on track to repeat this blunder, and his repeated misunderstanding of energy is the driving factor.
President Biden should recognize the crisis facing the American economy and simply get out of the way and let American energy provide relief for the American people.
Best of Opinion
Get the recap of top opinion commentary and original content throughout the week.
By entering your email and clicking the Subscribe button, you agree to the Fox News Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, and agree to receive content and promotional communications from Fox News. You understand that you can opt-out at any time.