Fueling our homes and cars: Biden scoffs while we suffer

Published 12:00 am Saturday, August 13, 2022

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Joe Biden wants to make you suffer. That is the only explanation that makes sense. He either wants you to suffer or he simply does not care if you do.
Why else would Louisiana be slipping into energy poverty? After all, we account for nearly one-fifth of the USA’s refining capacity and can process about 3.2 million barrels of crude oil per day. Our State has the third-highest natural gas production and reserves among the states. And we consistently rank among the top states in both crude oil reserves and crude oil production.
Energy bills, both to power our homes and our cars, are at levels many of us have never seen before. The suppliers and the consumers know spiking rates are being attributed, in large part, to natural gas prices soaring. But as families across our State are being forced to choose between fuel or food, we must consider how we got here.
For decades, the Radical Left has tried forcing their Green Energy Pipe Dream down our throats. They have used all the tricks in the book to silence criticism or opposition, including frivolous lawsuits and government overreach. But no matter the mechanism, these extremists cannot outrun the hard truth.
At the end of President Trump’s term, natural gas (which, along with coal, produces the vast majority of our electricity) was at roughly $2.50 per million BTU. Under Biden, it is now at $8.60. The explanation? Biden says we are in a “transition” and “God willing, when it’s over, we’ll be stronger.” However, for such a “clean” energy revolution to happen, the DC swamp must face the fact that the manufacturing of wind turbines and solar panels requires natural gas, crude oil, and coal. This difficult truth will not ease the pain families are feeling across our State, but it shows the direction we are heading.
Not to mention that the minerals required to make batteries for those all-important electric vehicles rely on child labor and diesel to mine. One EV battery requires mining 90,000 pounds of ore, and it takes the energy equivalent of 100 barrels of oil to produce a single battery that can only hold the equivalent of one. Mining pollutes the air and water, while lithium is potentially a reproductive toxin, according to the European Union. And that is just the tip of the iceberg – which is not melting.
It is clear we were better off under the Trump Administration, and now we are awake to the reality of the situation. That is exactly why they are making you suffer now, hoping you will forget the truth that you experienced just two short years ago. They are actively manipulating the market and destroying our energy independence – not out of incompetence but with actual intent to destroy.
Back in 2008, Barack Obama told the San Francisco Chronicle that “under my plan…electricity rates would skyrocket.” Joe Biden followed that plan, then blamed Putin when political pressure rose; but blaming the Russian president for your sticker shock at the pump and on your energy bill is like blaming the rooster for the sun coming up.
So I am fighting these illegal and illogical policies that do not benefit our people or our planet. I am fighting for American energy and independence – not only from nations that hate us, but also from this suicide pact Joe Biden is imposing upon us.
I have led two multi-state lawsuits against the Biden Administration’s attack on American energy and joined numerous others. I am working tirelessly to lift Biden’s oil and gas moratorium on federal lands and I will not back down.
After all, the people of Louisiana are scrappy survivors – we are fighters – and we are not going to just shut up and take it, not when we have the necessary natural resources right here at home.

 

Jeff Landry is the attorney general for Louisiana. Constituent Services can be reached at ConstituentServices@ag.louisiana.gov.