Former NH Senator on CNBC: Bernie Sanders, 'folks at NY Times' are disingenuous on energy policy
Former Republican New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg said Monday on CNBC's "Squawk Box" that Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT., and "folks at the New York Times" are "disingenuous" when it comes to energy policy.
Former Republican New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg said Monday that Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and "folks at the New York Times" are "disingenuous" when it comes to energy policy.
"This administration, folks like Bernie Sanders and some of the folks at the New York Times are totally disingenuous when it comes to energy policy," Gregg said on CNBC's "Squawk Box."
Gregg said that President Biden's decision to release one million barrels of oil per day and cancel the Keystone Pipeline "counterproductive activity" in an effort to decrease gas prices. It was unclear who Gregg meant specifically at the Times, although the newspaper has a progressive editorial stance on energy and climate issues.
Senator Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont, speaks during a union workers strike against Kellog Co. in Battle Creek, Michigan, U.S., on Friday, Dec. 17, 2021. Sanders rallied with striking Kellogg Co. workers in Michigan on Friday, after Kellogg said last month it was planning to hire replacement workers "where appropriate." Photographer: Elaine Cromie/Bloomberg via Getty Images (Elaine Cromie/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Gregg joined host Becky Quick and former Democratic North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp to debate whether the government should consider imposing price controls as the price of goods continues to spike.
Heitkamp said that looking back at hyperinflation in the 1980s, "a lot of people believe that started with price controls in the 70s." She said imposing price controls was the "most counterproductive way" to increase food demand and oil production.
"When you look at what oil producers are telling you, they need to sustain price around $100 a barrel to make that kind of investment in American production so if you cap it, you’re going to have a huge energy crisis, and I believe an energy shortage," she continued.
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)
Gregg said he agreed with the former North Dakota senator but also said that "they way you get decent prices on oil is you create incentive for production." He also said that the U.S. shouldn't be inhibiting production.
He added the oil community was "intentionally" being starved of capital "by the government and people in the investment community who want to feel good." He also criticized the "regulatory atmosphere" and the Biden administration's moves to "shut down the capacity of the oil companies to move their produce once they get it."
"If you actually let people invest for the purposes of profits, and you let the oil companies produce their product and move it, you'd see prices drop dramatically," Gregg said.
President Joe Biden speaks about Ukraine in the East Room of the White House (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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Biden announced this month that he would be releasing one million barrels of oil per day over the next six months from the Stragetic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).
This would decrease SPR down to around 388 million barrels, which would be the lowest level since March 1984.
Gas prices are highest in California, Hawaii and Nevada where they sit at over $5 per gallon.
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