Biden Intent on Proving Critics Right

Rob Meyne

  • Feb. 1, 2021
  • 5 min read

How much support do you think a presidential candidate would gain if they made the following pledge? “On day one of my Administration, I will sign executive orders to increase the price of gasoline, instantly destroy tens of thousands of jobs, increase our dependence on foreign energy, and devastate the economies of at least a dozen states.”

Right. No one would say that. If he told his advisors he wanted to make such an announcement, they would pull him off the campaign trail (or, in the case of Joe Biden, leave him in his basement but lock the doors) and advise him to shut up and get some sleep.

But Biden has made destruction of our energy sector one of his top priorities. Many of us warned that Biden would do this, but we didn’t expect him to prove us right so quickly.

Unfortunately, being able to say “We told you so” is scant comfort. You may recall that many Democrats spent a lot of time in 2020 telling us not to worry about sleepy old Lunch Bucket Joe, because he’s really a moderate. The fact that he appears to be losing a step or three mentally provided a modicum of comfort. The implication was that “We know Joe’s not totally with it, but he isn’t going to be allowed to make any major decisions anyway, so no worries.”

When the Democratic Party made common cause with Bernie Sanders by accepting nearly all of their far left/socialist proposals, Biden supporters wanted us to look the other way. Pretend we can’t read and we’re fine. They don’t mean it. Not to worry. Nothing to see here.

While the Democratic Platform carefully avoided endorsing the “Green New Deal” specifically, they did endorse its components. The net result is the same. Crazy Bernie, with whom Biden collaborated on the final platform, isn’t subtle about saying we need to get rid of fossil fuels. Biden just speaks the truth on occasion, almost by accident. In 2020, in answer to a direct question of whether there would be a role for fossil fuels moving forward, he was candid enough to say “no.” Got it? Coal, oil, and natural gas are the foundation of our economy. They are, generally speaking, the reason the lights come on when you flip the switch. They are how you get to work. And they are the reason there is electricity flowing through the wires even if you happen to be using it to charge your Tesla. (It is ironic how many Tesla acolytes think they’re class-leading “greenies” while charging their vehicles with juice produced by burning coal.)

A vibrant domestic energy sector is not only vital to our economy, but also essential to our national security. A nation that has to buy energy from its adversaries is inherently weak. See comment and discussion of the impact of Biden’s plans on national security, and on a key PA CD, here.

Green energy, because it is so heavily subsidized, is growing in importance, but still a small part of our energy picture. In the meantime, Biden has endorsed the core tenants of the Green New Deal, an abomination that seeks a day when air travel is not allowed, gas engines are banned, and every structure in the country is refurbished to make it more energy efficient, while we cease use of abundant and relatively inexpensive fossil fuels in favor or theoretical and non-existent clean energy technologies that may, possibly, someday be able to meet our needs.

Biden’s call for the end of fossil fuels should have been the ticket’s death knell in states where oil, coal, and natural gas are a large part of the economy. America under Trump was a net exporter of energy. Well-paying jobs in petroleum were plentiful, unemployment in places like South Dakota was at historic lows, and gas prices for average Americans was about half of where it peaked in the Obama Administration. Biden is moving us away from the energy independence we’ve briefly enjoyed as a result of Trump’s pro-exploration policies and the technical advancements made with fracking and related technologies.

Biden puts the interests of the globe and any nation not called “America” ahead of our own. He signed executive orders to stop the Keystone XL pipeline, freeze leases on federal lands, and halt offshore drilling. Republicans have been hoping Biden couldn’t possibly be so deeply in the pockets of nascent socialists that he’d toss aside low-cost and energy independence. We hoped in vain. How out of touch must a new president be to make one of his earliest actions increasing the price of gasoline, destroying tens of thousands of jobs, and increase our dependence on foreign energy? Perhaps even more importantly, how corrupt and ineffective must our media be to allow him to take such actions with little attention, fanfare, and essentially no blow-back? Did you read the editorials in the NYT or WAPO criticizing Biden for putting our energy security at risk? Neither did I. There were none.

If we had a national news media structure that was honest, accountable, and responsible we would all hear a lot about Biden’s destructive energy policies, all put together as if a Scandinavian teenager were in charge. As it was observed in the excellent analysis in the attached, “During the last decade the world’s developed nations including the EU and U.S. have reduced global CO2 emissions by about 1.6 billion metric tons per year while the developing nations increased global CO2 emissions by about 5.7 billion metric tons.” So, Biden’s solution is to punish the nations that are doing their part, and to reward those that are not.

President Biden has done everything he possibly could to confirm the notion that he is a wholly owned puppet of the far left. If his goal had been to show he is completely ignorant of the nation’s energy needs, dedicated to killing jobs, and interested in driving up energy costs, it is unlikely he could have done a more effective job.

Even if you are deeply concerned about CO2 emissions – and we can have that discussion another day – the U. S. and E. U. have for years reduced their carbon output, even as we grew our economies. The developing world, which, oddly, is still defined to include China and India, have seen their carbon output skyrocket in the same period. Today, about 65 percent of the world’s carbon output comes from those two nations.

Biden has recommitted America to the Paris Climate Accords. Looking at this move, you get the impressing Joe is the kind of kid no one hung out with in high school, and he is desperately clutching for ways to show he is cool. The Paris deal places burdens on us, and picks our pockets, even as they give China and India a complete pass. The new administration might as well have a motto that says, “America last.”

Please share!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *