Appearing on an interview with Bloomberg while Americans are getting clobbered by higher gas prices, Biden administration Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm first laughed hysterically when asked what her plan was to increase oil production in America, then insisted that the oil market was controlled by OPEC. Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), incensed at the supine attitude of the Biden administration, which had begged OPEC to increase oil production and was rebuffed, fired, “Our US Energy Secretary is a joke. And a liar.”
Granholm was prompted by an interviewer for Bloomberg, who asked, “In Sturgis, Michigan, (gas) is $2.89 a gallon. I guess that’s better than in California. What is the Granholm plan to increase oil production in America?”
Granholm burst into uncontrollable laughter, then responded patronizingly, “Would that I had the magic wand on this. As you know, of course, oil is a global market. It is controlled by a cartel. That cartel is called OPEC. And they made a decision yesterday that they were not going to increase beyond what they were already planning.”
Crenshaw tweeted, “Our US Energy Secretary is a joke. And a liar. … No, prices are not controlled by OPEC. They have influence, but then again SO DO WE. Our vast increase in production over the past decade drove prices down. All we have to do is get the government boot off the neck of US producers, and let them do their job.”
He added, “But instead, this incompetent administration has done the opposite. They’re (sic) cancelled land leases and cancelled pipelines. They’re threatening the energy sector with more regs and taxes, and you wonder why no one wants to invest in more production?”
Our US Energy Secretary is a joke. And a liar. https://t.co/W0y7Mx7Ije
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) November 5, 2021
But instead, this incompetent administration has done the opposite. They’re cancelled land leases and cancelled pipelines. They’re threatening the energy sector with more regs and taxes, and you wonder why no one wants to invest in more production?
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) November 5, 2021
On October 29, The Washington Post noted Biden’s desire to hit the oil and gas industry, noting, “The tax-and-spending bill the White House hopes to pass within a matter of days would provide unprecedented levels of funding to combat climate change. But it would force the oil and gas industry to share the cost by raising more than $100 billion from fossil fuel firms over the next decade.”
On the day he took office, President Joe Biden banned all new oil and gas leases on public land and waters for 60 days in an executive order; he also canceled the Keystone XL Pipeline project.
On June 1, Reuters noted, “U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration on Tuesday said it would suspend oil and gas leases that were handed out in an Alaska wildlife refuge during the final days of the Trump administration pending an environmental review.”
This week, Railroad Commission of Texas Chairman Wayne Christian fired off criticism of Biden for his policies, saying:
While Americans are paying $144 million more for gas per day than in the past, the Biden administration continues their efforts to tax and regulate the oil and gas industry out of existence. Texas is the number one oil and gas producer in the nation, and these continued anti-oil and gas policies will kill jobs, stifle economic growth, and make America more reliant of foreign nations to provide reliable energy.
It’s hypocritical to kill clean fossil fuel jobs here in America claiming it ensures a clean environment, and then beg our foreign adversaries to produce more using much less environment-friendly methods. The U.S. is a global leader in reducing emissions, not through regulation – but technological innovation. In fact, over the last fifty years, the six major pollutants regulated by the EPA have fallen by 77 percent while the U.S. economy grew 285 percent and its population by 60 percent. With a looming global energy supply crisis and inflation on the rise, we need more economic certainty not less; we need more oil and gas production, not more clean energy fantasies.
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a member.
