February 16th, 2024

• Stay up to date on all things energy by visiting the TEA Newsroom.
• Natural Gas CARES: It is the world’s Cleanest, Affordable, Reliable Energy Source.
• Colorado lawmakers prepare legislation to limit local power over wind, solar projects.
• Natural gas power plant coming to Texas; will aid the power grid.
• Energy and Commerce Chair leaving Congress.
• Permian rivals reach a deal to create a $50 billion oil-and-gas behemoth.
• Oil industry group files legal challenge against Gulf leasing plan.
• Chinese-backed solar factory stirs suspicions in rural Ohio.
• In Virginia, new debates on who gets final say on solar projects.

The issue: Oil and natural gas industry donations heavily fueling Donald J. Trump for president. This comes as no surprise.

Why it matters: It’s obvious from the past three-plus years that a President Biden White House is not in their best interests. His extremist climate agenda is drawing plenty of support from those who stand to benefit — leftwing environmental groups.

It is coming at the expense of natural gas and oil producers and U.S. consumers. These companies fuel energy affordability and reliability for American families and businesses. Meanwhile, Biden’s policies benefit nefarious governments like Russia and China, allowing their interests to be put above those of his own country.

But, it may be worse than we thought. This story points out foreign energy concerns are apparently influencing this administration. One direct connection involves climate envoy John Podesta and his brother. Podesta played a major role in ushering in the new LNG policy. But the decision could also boost current and former clients of Podesta’s brother, Washington power-lobbyist Tony Podesta, who has long represented foreign companies involved in the LNG industry.

Consider: The litany of bad energy policies enacted under Biden started from Day One. Here are a few and the resulting consequences:

• On day one he killed the Keystone XL pipeline and “paused” new oil and gas leases on federal lands, resulting in job losses and higher gasoline prices.
• Today, prices remain nearly 30 percent higher than when Biden took office.
• Biden’s “solution” to those skyrocketing prices at the pump? He started draining the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), an oil stock meant to get our country through natural disasters, wars or other crises.
• The reserve still has 280,000 fewer barrels than it did when Biden took office.

The most recent act is the White House delaying approval of CP2, a proposed LNG terminal in Louisiana, after meeting with a 25-year-old social media “influencer” from Colorado that led a campaign to kill the project.

Many former Republican officials, some Democrats and natural gas and oil leaders have criticized all these moves, especially the most recent one. It’s all election-year politics by the 81-year-old Biden, whose mental acuity has come under increased scrutiny in recent weeks.

Bottom Line: President Biden’s energy agenda is anti-American, which is why the domestic industry is supporting Trump with their donations. The choice between two visions for America’s energy future couldn’t be more clear in 2024.

The issue: Air quality in the United States is so poor that kids shouldn’t play outside, says the most recent study. It also warns that on some days when the air quality is really unhealthy that the elderly and those with respiratory conditions should remain inside. That is without a doubt true, but it’s not getting worse as this study says.

Why it matters: Normal American families should be concerned any time a new study like this comes out. These studies go hand-in-hand with the climate extremists who can’t wait to tell us the latest and greatest catastrophe that awaits us. No one calls them on it when, fortunately, it doesn’t happen.

• Their lies and hypocrisy in making such claims is nothing more than a misinformation campaign that is causing people needless suffering and worry.
• President Biden and these groups are pushing a narrative on our nation’s younger generation that climate change is an existential threat.
• In a recent study of more than 10,000 young people aged 16–25 years old, living in 10 countries (including the United States), 59% reported being very or extremely worried about climate change, and 84% were at least moderately worried.

Decades of climate fear mongering and propaganda has led to acts such as the young people arrested for blocking the entrance to Biden’s campaign headquarters on Monday. According to the left-wing climate group Sunrise Movement, 21 of its members were arrested and roughly 80 others were involved in the protest in Wilmington, Delaware.

These activists warned that, if Biden failed to take definitive action combating climate change, millions of young voters would stay home in November. That’s the real existential threat to his re-election campaign.

Consider: 

We have compiled a detailed fact sheet about such alarmist predictions, showing how far-fetched they are. Here are just a few: Whether it’s Joe Biden in 1987 predicting “a catastrophe of biblical proportion” in the next few years; or the UN in 1995 claiming the East Coast of the U.S. would disappear by 2020; and more recently, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in 2019 saying the world will end in 12 years.

The reality is the U.S. has already accomplished so much with our best air quality in half a century and leading the world in emissions reductions. Here is one example: In the New York City metro area, there were nearly 300 days in 1980 that had unhealthy air quality. Today it’s less than 50.

Bottom Line: Activists want your kids to believe we’re all doomed thanks to climate change. Make sure to remind them that this isn’t true – America leads the world on emissions and air quality, and that progress will only continue.

Whether or not Punxsutawney Phil got his prediction right, inevitably spring will soon be here, and with it will be higher gas prices. We’re already starting to see some upward movement, as the average price for a gallon of unleaded gasoline increased 11 cents over the past week, up to $3.27. Fueling this jump in gas prices is a refinery shutdown in Indiana. Once this is resolved, the rate of price increase at the pump should slow.

Nothing on the calendar as Congress is not in session. Enjoy your weekend!

“Investing in American natural gas is essential for achieving energy security and severing dependence on hostile nations, and it is key for promoting economic growth and job creation. The future of American energy is right below our feet, and it’s time for our energy policy to reflect that.”
—  Rep. Troy Balderson (R-OH), in a Washington Examiner op-ed.