House Dems blame Big Oil for soaring gas prices
Former White House National Economic Council chief economist Joseph Lavorgna weighs in after executives from the country’s largest oil companies testified on Capitol Hill regarding record-high gas prices.
To the American oil and gas community: Enough is enough!
Energy prices were rising long before Russia’s senseless invasion of Ukraine. Yet, America’s oil and gas industry, your industry, has been made the scapegoat by the Democrats for the pain folks are feeling at the pump. The Biden administration’s policies of pausing leases, halting pipeline construction, and imposing burdensome regulations are to blame – not you.
AS BIDEN'S BIG OIL BLAME GAME RAGES, ‘BONE DRY’ DIGS INTO HEART OF AMERICA's ENERGY CRISIS
A U.S. postal worker puts his seatbelt on after filing up his vehicle at a gas station in Garden Grove, California, U.S., March 29, 2022. REUTERS/Mike Blake (REUTERS/Mike Blake)
As a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee in the House of Representatives, I have a front-row seat as political elites detail their plans to eliminate you. In my work on the committee, I frequently meet with your executives and workers, visit job sites and offices, doing everything I can to defend an industry that, right now, far too many Americans take for granted.
I'm not going to name names, but we've all seen the TV commercials from "Big Oil" filled with solar panels and green climate messaging about how you are diversifying your portfolio and embracing progressive values.
To be clear, there is nothing inherently wrong with becoming more efficient and environmentally responsible. However, it is curious that oil and gas producers, pipeline companies, LNG exporters, and fossil fuel companies barely mention their actual contribution to America’s economy – getting America’s abundant resources out of the ground and into homes and businesses, vehicles, and products that the American people depend on to live their daily lives.
You are stuck between a rock and a hard place. I get it. You are under enormous pressure from woke investors and board members requiring you to finalize your latest "decarbonization road map" and hit your "ESG goals."
But, do you believe Wall Street investors, with their private jets and beachside mansions, genuinely care about the climate and reducing carbon emissions? No, they don’t!
So, while you continue to play into the Left’s wishes for your industry – there are questions I would like answers to. How does your new "rush to green" narrative benefit American families who rely on your products to power their lives? And what is your return on investment?
US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, and US Senator Ed Markey (R), Democrat of Massachusetts, speak during a press conference to announce Green New Deal legislation to promote clean energy programs outside the US Capitol in Washington, DC, February 7, 2019. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
This issue hits close to home. I represent Ohio’s 6th Congressional District, Appalachian Eastern and Southeastern Ohio, home to a thriving, job-creating oil and gas economy atop the Utica and Marcellus shale plays.
Your workers deserve better than the ignorance and contempt elites on the Left have for them. The American middle class deserves reliable and affordable energy. America’s economy demands it. And you’re able to deliver it.
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So, I implore you. It is time to tell your investors and boards that enough is enough; that you are no longer going to be the punching bag for the world’s problems.
Tell your story directly to the American people.
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Defending yourself more forcefully is the right thing to do. Reliable and abundant energy gives people freedom, makes them less dependent on government, and provides more resources for folks to pursue their dreams. Energy independence is the bedrock of American innovation – energy security is national security.
Remember, the next time a major Wall Street investor asks you for a "decarbonization road map," that map might just lead your company, and your industry, right off a cliff. Don’t let them do it. Tell your story!
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