As inflation subsided and consumer confidence returned, Republicans pivoted to their traditional standby: Biden's war on energy, especially fossil fuels. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) tweeted on Monday “Joe Biden destroyed America's energy independence” Sen. bill cassidy (R-Louisiana), Congressman. marjorie taylor green (R-Ga.) and others echo this theme in arguing for the return of Donald Trump, who is credited with overseeing more intense fossil fuel production.
These politicians are in dire need of updating their talking points.
U.S. crude oil production plummeted early in the pandemic and was slow to recover, but local production has reached new highs in the past few months, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reports. In September and October (the most recent months for which data is available), U.S. oil producers pumped 13.2 million to 13.3 million barrels of crude oil per day, higher than their pre-pandemic peak in late 2019 during the Trump administration. The total amount exceeded 13 million barrels.
To put this into perspective, the United States produces more oil than any other country in history.
Similarly, U.S. natural gas production also exceeded previous records, according to EIA data.
The term “energy independence'' is ambiguous because commodity markets are global and will probably never be completely protected from major shocks overseas. But if that means “we export more than we import,” then we've met that standard many times over, as we did during President Trump's time in office. . We have been a net exporter of crude oil and petroleum products for two years, the longest on record.
Similarly, since 2017, natural gas exports have exceeded imports.
Industry groups don't talk much about these numbers, perhaps because they help sustain the argument that oil and gas companies are overregulated and undersubsidized.
Democrats don't like to talk about these things either. After all, highlighting the increase in fossil fuel production under President Biden's term has been a major challenge for climate-focused leftists who (understandably) want to “curb it.” may make you angry.
Additionally, some of the reasons behind the US oil boom aren't necessarily great. Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and coordinated production cuts by OPEC+ members have pushed global oil prices up enough to allow U.S. shale oil producers to offer stronger returns that investors seek, reducing supply of crude oil. The amount is increasing.
“High prices played a key role in record oil production simply by making the economics work for drillers,” says Ryan Cummings, a visiting economics professor. student at Stanford University who tracks energy markets. “This is of course not good for the economy as a whole or for inflation, but it does help to employ more individuals in oil-producing countries.”
Then there's renewable energy. Solar and wind power generation have also reached record highs in recent years. So are biofuel sources such as ethanol (although they don't necessarily help fight climate change).
Growth in clean electricity generation is a long-term trend, driven primarily by technological advances that have made solar and wind power more cost-competitive. But recent policy changes, such as Biden's Inflation Control Act of 2022, have also accelerated development.
The same forces are driving battery development, helping to solve the intermittent problems caused by relying on wind and solar power when the weather is unstable. The Energy Information Administration recently predicted that battery storage capacity in the United States will be reduced to nearly zero. double Even just this year.
Red states like Texas have disproportionately benefited from the renewable energy boom, but conservative politicians remain reluctant to talk about these gains. “Green energy” is still politically coded as left-wing, even though it has made many conservatives wealthy.
Boasting about expanding renewable energy can even be complicated for Democrats.
After all, voters in Rust Belt states don't want unionized manufacturing jobs to be siphoned off to right-to-work states in the South, where new battery and electric vehicle factories are being announced. Maybe that's what you're worried about. In West Virginia, big investments in clean energy and battery production may not be enough to overcome resentment over the decline of coal. In fact, state senators there are pushing a bill to increase taxes on wind turbines.
One reason that renewable energy growth may not be purely politically positive for Democrats is that they have allowed Republicans to frame energy issues as zero-sum. That is, voters may believe that increased renewable energy production will have a negative impact on other energy industries and jobs in those industries. In the long run, this may be true, but these days it's clearly not. all All but coal and nuclear power are growing rapidly at the same time.
If Democrats were a little more reticent in touting their oil interests, perhaps they could claim Biden as a “both/and” president rather than an “either/or.”