By turning abroad and snubbing US oil producers, Biden undermines own climate agenda

"The past 18 months without a doubt have been the most challenging regulatory and political environment that U.S. producers have ever faced," said Tim Stewart, president of U.S. Oil and Gas Association.

1. The U.S. oil and gas industry has described this effort as a slap in the face to domestic producers, noting the Biden administration has said its long-term energy policy is to transition away from fossil fuels to be more environmentally friendly and combat climate change.
2. Since announcing in March a U.S. ban on Russian energy imports in response to Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, Biden has turned to Iran, Venezuela, and Saudi Arabia as potential substitutes to fill the void in the global marketplace.
3. President Biden is undermining his own climate agenda by looking abroad for solutions to the current energy crisis rather than supporting domestic producers, according to lawmakers and leaders in the U.S. oil and gas industry.
4. Just this week, the Institute for Energy Research released a new report arguing that, when correcting for various errors in how greenhouse gas emissions are currently calculated, oil produced in California has lower emissions than foreign crude oil imports, including from places such as Iraq, Ecuador, and Saudi Arabia.
5. Biden's trip last week to Saudi Arabia, Iran's chief rival, was widely viewed as a bid to secure increased Saudi oil production in hopes of raising global supply to lower historically high gas prices.
6. Nonetheless, U.S. officials went to Venezuela, a Russian ally and longtime U.S. foe, earlier this year to open a dialogue with President Nicolas Maduro about easing U.S. sanctions so the country can sell its oil on the international market to combat rising prices amid Russia's war in Ukraine.
7. Earlier this year, senior Biden administration officials declined to rule out purchasing Iranian oil when asked, saying "all options are on the table." The White House has also said the "discussion of oil" was part of negotiations to revive the nuclear deal with Iran.
8. The U.S. has seen a 46% reduction in flaring intensity, the volume of gas flared per barrel of oil produced, over the past decade and last year was better than almost every country at limiting it, according to the World Bank data.
9. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, asked Interior Secretary Deb Haaland why the administration would engage Venezuela on oil rather than seek increased U.S. production.

 

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/energy/turning-abroad-instead-us-oil-producers-biden-undermines-own-climate-agenda