It seems almost daily that someone will write a Letter to the Editor claiming that President Biden is the reason for high gas prices. The letters also say we were energy and/or gas independent under former President Trump and now we are dependent on offshore petroleum. What is the truth?
Keystone XL Pipeline: According to the Republicans, when Biden killed the Keystone XL pipeline, he killed domestic gas production, thus increasing gas prices. So, build the pipeline, and our gas prices will somehow get lower, they say.
Remember that the Keystone XL pipeline was a proposed 1,179 mile, $8.5 billion project that would have moved some 830,000 barrels of dirty tar sands oil per day from Alberta, Canada to Nebraska. However, only 8% of the pipeline was contracted, and it never carried a drop of oil. The pipeline is a delivery system and not an oilfield. It was never going to produce oil. Instead, it was a shortcut to move oil from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico and overseas.
Under Trump, we were oil or energy independent: People write letters using these terms as if they were interchangeable. They are not. If Republicans are talking about producing more energy than we consume, the U.S. is still energy independent per the just-released report from the Energy Information Administration. This is the definition that makes the most sense to me. If you take energy independence to mean we don’t import any oil, then the U.S. has never been energy independent, and we never will be. We import a lot of oil, refine it, and export gasoline and diesel. We also export some oil that is better for foreign refineries than ours.
Biden Destroyed the American Energy Industry: If Biden set out to destroy the American Energy Industry, he is doing an awful job of it. Oil companies’ profits soared to $174bn this year. Biden’s administration has issued more drilling permits in his first year of office than Trump did in any of his first three years. Biden has also held the largest offshore oil and gas lease sale in US history. The Democratic administration has not ended drilling on federal land-far from it. Biden ordered a pause on NEW oil and gas leases on federal land. Republicans falsely labeled this pause as bad and said it would quickly destroy the energy sector.
Next time you write a letter to the Chronicle, check your facts.
ot of oil, refine it, and export gasoline and diesel. We also export some oil that is better for foreign refineries than ours.
Biden Destroyed the American Energy Industry: If Biden set out to destroy the American Energy Industry, he is doing an awfu
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