Biden appears to go off script to say US needs oil, gas drilling

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Republicans boo Biden on Trump, national debt, and Medicare claims

Republicans attending President Biden's State of the Union address react with boos over claims former President Trump added 25% of the entire national debt and Republicans want to sunset Medicare and Social Security.

President Biden appeared to go off script during his State of the Union address Tuesday evening, saying that the U.S. would need oil and natural gas for many years to come.

"We are still going to need oil and gas for a while," Biden said during his speech.

Biden's comments were quickly met with a mixed reaction as some Republicans appeared to cheer the remarks. 

The president then told an anecdote in which an oil executive asked him why his company should invest in fossil fuel projects in light of the negative business atmosphere for oil and gas projects. Biden said he responded that oil and gas would be needed for years to come.

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President Biden delivers his State of the Union address Tuesday. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

"They said, 'well, we're afraid you're going to shut down all the oil wells and all the oil refineries. So, why should we invest in them?' I said, 'we're going to need oil for at least another decade and beyond,'" Biden added.

Republican lawmakers in the chamber were then heard loudly laughing at the remark, likely because most estimates suggest oil and gas will be required for several more decades before they can be phased out and replaced by green alternatives.

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Biden's comments on oil and gas, though, were notably not included in the official copy of his speech shared by the White House. The only mention of oil in the official transcript was a comment about Big Oil reporting record profits last year.

"Last year, they made $200 billion in the midst of a global energy crisis," he said. "It’s outrageous."

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The Biden administration has repeatedly taken aim at oil and gas production as part of its climate agenda that it has aggressively pushed in an effort to stave off global warming.

The White House didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.