Biden and U.S. Energy Independence

A reader sent me something to the effect that Biden is at fault for our high gasoline prices, commenting that, from the day he took office, he’s done everything in his power to increase America’s dependence on foreign energy resources.  Apparently, many people find it credible that a person like Joe Biden has a covert intention to harm the country he’s served for a full 50 years.

In any case, from what I can discern, as is the case with all large-scale political and economic phenomena, this is a complicated issue that gets oversimplified and brutally spun in the media.

The rising price of oil was actually more pronounced in the last few months of the Trump administration, though, of course, it’s a trend that continues today. Here’s the analysis from Forbes contributor, energy investment analyst and guest of “60-Minutes” Leslie Stahl, Robert Rapier.

The abrupt drop in demand caused by COVID-19 resulted in great uncertainty, and the oil companies are reluctant to ramp up production because of the risk associated with price volatility, per energy market analyst Glenn Doty.  They also have plenty of land leases available that they could be using if they wish, cites NBC News.

Big Oil and their trade organization, the American Petroleum Institute, (characteristically) blames environmentalists for everything that goes wrong with respect to the supply and demand for (and thus the price of) oil.

Fox News and Sky News, both Rupert Murdoch enterprises, say that Biden “has an obsession for destroying America’s energy independence”.  Again, this is quite an accusation, but that doesn’t mean it’s unfounded.  Questions: Are the people who believe aware that the price of gasoline is skyrocketing all around the globe?  Have they asked themselves what acts of bumbling stupidity Biden is taking to drive up prices in London, Paris, and Istanbul?

The right-wing finds itself in the difficult (some would say hypocritical) position of both praising Biden for banning Russia’s oil exports and blaming him for the higher gas prices that result.

Another observation of the Murdoch empire’s coverage is its smirking attempt to ridicule Biden for his concern about environmental issues, climate change in particular, in the face of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  “Which is the greater threat?  Russia or climate change?” Well, honest and informed members of the media admit that both are important and need to have their place in present-day policymaking.

The pundits I follow, e.g., Glenn Doty, say we should be depleting our Strategic Petroleum Reserve at a much faster rate, perhaps 10 times, than what we’re doing now; they say that the SPR was created for this precise set of international circumstances.

Others point to the price gouging of the oil companies (see graphic). Per Bernie Sanders, “We cannot allow big oil companies to continue to take advantage of the war in Ukraine & inflation to make huge profits by jacking up gas prices. We need a windfall profits tax.”

All this is part of the ongoing narrative: Our Democratic leaders are a part of, or at least are beholden to, the “radical left,” and don’t care if their socialist policies damage the nation.

Going back to the original premise about Biden, it’s like everything else: if you try hard enough, you can blame him for everything, or, on the other hand, completely excuse him when he does, in fact, make mistakes.

Our media takes some extreme positions to create public animus on subjects like international oil prices.  The far-right outlets like Fox, for example, have convinced the average viewer, say, a hardware store manager or a landscape architect, that he now has a valid opinion on the world energy industry.  A few months ago, he was an expert in infectious diseases. Before that, he was a scholar of constitutional law.

Until recently, this tactic simply wouldn’t have worked, because people weren’t so self-congratulatory and easily deceived about the limits of their knowledge base; they didn’t have a problem admitting their ignorance, especially on extremely technical subjects.  A decade ago, most reasonable people, if asked about the validity of vaccinations or wearing masks during viral pandemics, would have simply replied, “How in hell would I know? Ask the people who have spent their entire careers figuring this out.”

That was then.  This is now.