Do you think energy costs are high right now? Just wait and see: President Joe Biden is doubling down on his War on Energy, and that will keep prices going, rising, and . . . up.
Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency is writing new rules that will increase costs for fossil fuel-based power plants. And, as Kenneth R. Timmerman noted in The Post last week, Team Biden has also moved to kill the Eastern Mediterranean gas pipeline, which would have brought Israeli and Cypriot natural gas to gas-poor Europe, reducing shortages there. .
The prez also revives Obama-era loan guarantees for “clean energy” producers, starting with $1 billion in support for a Nebraska company that will make “clean” hydrogen.
That guarantee could cost the taxpayer; think Solyndra helped the solar panel company Team Obama to the tune of $500 million before it went bankrupt – only with the stakes now twice as high. Favoring such companies also puts traditional energy producers at a competitive disadvantage.
Meanwhile, a Russian invasion of Ukraine would exacerbate Europe’s energy shortages; Russia supplies 30% to 40% of Europe’s oil, gas and coal. Team Biden is working on a plan to get global producers to increase production and divert gas shipments just in case, but many are already close to maxing out. Brace yourself for global prizes to skyrocket even more.
Americans are already paying about $3.33 a gallon for gas at the pump, nearly 40% percent more than a year ago. US Crude Oil Benchmark Just Hits Seven Year High at $87 a Barrel. The fuel costs for heating homes have increased by more than 40%.
High gas pump prices are particularly painful for lower-income workers who cannot work from home and have to commute. But rising energy costs also put higher price tags on other goods and services – food, clothing, other manufactured products, transportation. Last month’s consumer price index held headline inflation at 7%, the highest in 40 years. This also affects the poor hardest.
Biden’s green agenda clearly deserves the blame for driving energy prices up: He killed the Keystone XL pipeline, threatened to close another critical channel between Canada and Michigan, halted oil and gas leases on federal lands, and discouraged production and investment by an ever-increasing crackdown on fossil fuels.
Think about it: While oil prices were much higher in 2021 than in 2018, US shale producer capital investment fell by about a third last year; production fell of 2020, which was already lower than in 2019. And means fewer deliveries, yes. . . higher prices.
Indeed, the extremists driving Biden’s policies want to higher energy prices — to make renewables more competitive.
The green agenda is all about pain and sacrifice in the name of fighting climate change. But with countries like China and India emitting huge and growing amounts of CO2 every year, Biden’s measures can barely dent the rise in global emissions — but they do a great job of causing pain.