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All-American Energy is an All-Around Win

October 3, 2024

October 4th, 2024

The issue: Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate gave Americans some additional insight into Democrat Tim Walz’s and Republican J.D. Vance’s positions on energy.

Why it matters: When asked about climate change and its effect on storms like Hurricane Helene, Vance said the solution is to “produce as much energy as possible in the United States of America.” He’s absolutely right and that starts with natural gas. He also attacked the Green New Deal policies pushed by Kamala Harris and Walz, stating: “We are a rich and prosperous enough country where every American, whether they’re rich or poor, ought to be able to turn on their heat in the middle of a cold winter night. That’s gotten more difficult thanks to Kamala Harris’ energy policies.”

Consider:

  • Vance said the Trump administration’s climate policy would be to bring more energy production and manufacturing to the U.S. “because we’re the cleanest economy in the entire world.”
  • The facts are the U.S. has lowered emissions since 2005 thanks in large part to more natural gas being used for electricity generation.
  • Natural gas reduces our environmental impact and creates good jobs.
  • Vance accurately connected the cost of energy to the cost of all other goods, from furniture to groceries. Increasing oil and gas production and adding pipelines to deliver that affordable/reliable energy lowers all costs.

Walz also described Harris as having an “all-of-the-above” energy policy and touted oil and gas production in the U.S., something Democrats have seldom proclaimed. But he also doubled down on the costly Inflation Reduction Act. The problem is that it’s laden with new or expanded tax credits for clean energy manufacturing and production of electric vehicles, something most Americans don’t want or can’t afford. As evidence, Tesla just canceled production of its cheapest car at $39,000.

The fact that both vice presidential candidates addressed the energy issues directly was refreshing. We simply trust Donald Trump’s and JD Vance’s approach much more so than the extreme views held by Kamala Harris and Tim Walz when it comes to how to best unleash American energy and become dominant once again.

Bottom line: Anyone who supports a clean environment and affordable energy should support producing more American energy. We do it cleaner (and cheaper) than anywhere else in the world.

The issue: As fighting in the Middle East intensified this week, we are reminded of why energy security is so vital to America and its allies. We must have Affordable, Reliable, Clean energy produced here during peacetime and especially during times when war is raging across the globe.

Why it matters: The unprecedented ballistic missile attacks by Iran against Israel Tuesday represent a “significant escalation,” as National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in the moments after the attack. Therefore, it is critical that we embrace American energy production and eliminate our reliance on foreign oil and Chinese technology for batteries, wind and solar panels.

Consider: 

  • It was President Biden who kept billions flowing to Iran, which in turn used the money to fund terrorist activity in the region.
  • This has helped finance Iran’s aggression abroad via proxies such as Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and the front groups in Iraq and Syria that shoot at American bases almost daily.
  • The U.S. also must tighten the oil sanctions on Iran.
  • This policy has worked well before. During the Trump administration, a heightened focus on US government enforcement reduced the volume of Iranian oil exports by 95%, thereby reducing Iranian oil revenues by $50 billion.

Clearly, the lack of tight enforcement of oil sanctions reflects a lack of political will, not a lack of technical enforcement ability.

Though the global energy supply is so far uninterrupted, a broader conflict in the region would mean disruptive attacks on energy and transport infrastructure, whether through Iranian naval action or terror groups. North America must prepare itself for a coming crisis in the global energy supply, particularly the United States — where President Biden foolishly chose to pause the approval of new liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports.

Replenishing our Strategic Petroleum Reserve also is essential for global security. The SPR plays a critical role in shielding the country from energy supply disruptions. The US Department of Energy announced this week that it has secured 6 million barrels of oil for the SPR, with deliveries scheduled through May 2025.

Bottom line: Iran’s recent attack on Israel underscores the importance of energy security. When our adversaries fill their coffers with money from energy exports, bad things happen. Energy independence means the bad guys go broke.

Despite turmoil in the Middle East, gas prices are still on the decline. As CNBC’s Brian Sullivan pointed out, we can thank record American oil production for keeping prices stable (at least for now) amidst world events that would normally send the price of oil through the roof. As of today, the national average for a gallon of gasoline is $3.19, 3 cents less than it was a week ago.

Nothing on the calendar for next week as Congress is in recess.

“If you’re spending hundreds of billions of American taxpayer money on solar panels that are made in China, you’re going to make the economy dirtier. If you want to make the environment cleaner, you’ve got to invest in more [U.S.] energy production.”

-Senator JD Vance (R-OH) during the VP Debate.