Higher prices at the pump. Biden won't budge.

Everett WA

Description

As a presidential candidate, Biden called Saudi Arabia a "pariah" state. Soon after the election, like all his predecessors, Biden traveled to the kingdom to kiss the ring. And still, he gets nothing. The oft-repeated claim that Biden is a savvy, highly respected foreign policy operator has been relentlessly debunked by reality. Biden wagered that he could placate his left wing, curbing fossil fuel production while also holding prices in check by pressuring the Saudis and emptying the U.S. strategic reserve, now at a 40-year low. It was a bad bet. Biden can't control prices, but he could have mitigated the problem consumers now face had he not disincentivized domestic fossil fuel production and refinery capacity. Remember that on Biden's first day at work, he revoked permits to build the Keystone XL, a 1,179-mile pipeline that was going to carry approximately 800,000 barrels of oil a day into the United States that was slated to be completed in a few months. Seems like the kind of infrastructure that might be quite helpful. Days later, Biden signed a batch of executive orders halting any new oil and natural gas leases on all public lands. The administration has issued fewer oil leases than any president since the Second World War. It's unsurprising, considering the stated policy goal of his party has been to create fossil-fuel scarcity by "transitioning" – subsidizing, mandating, and diverting capital – too unreliable and expensive "clean energy" projects. Democrats' promises and rhetoric are also baked into the price. Even if Biden loosened regulations today, why would nefarious profit-hungry shareholders of the oil industry plow billions into long-term projects when Democrats promise to destroy their business in the not-very-distant future? Last week the press secretary said Biden is doing everything possible to lower the price of gas. If that were true why is gas now 5.49 per gallon here in Washington state? If Biden wanted to he could lift the moratorium on gas leases and continue the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. Oil prices have always been dictated by supply and demand which is the basis for the high cost today. Since oil is a fungible commodity, no single group or nation, leader or project is going to dictate prices. Among the entities that aren't responsible for spiking prices is "Big Oil," the bugaboo Biden and Democrats like to throw at the economic illiterates in times of crisis – but only when prices spike. Those poor bastards never get any credit for the years of stable, low prices.