September 13th, 2024

• Stay up to date on all things energy by visiting the TEA Newsroom.
• America needs Affordable, Reliable, Clean energy security.
• Billionaire Warren invests in pipelines — and Trump.
• Draft permitting bill released as bipartisan talks continue.
• Robert Bryce: Climatism or energy humanism?
• Opinion: California’s lights are out and Newsom isn’t home.
• The TVA helped electrify the South — but now its plans are sparking backlash.
• Union workers making EV batteries downplay the politics of the product.
• House panel clashes on energy costs.
• SEC dissolves ESG enforcement group.

The issue: Both candidates touted their economic plans and emphasized the importance of energy independence during the presidential debate on Tuesday. But only one was truthful.

Kamala Harris falsely took credit for record high natural gas production, and then assured voters she supports fracking five years after saying repeatedly she’d abolish it. That’s a blatant lie and you can not trust a word she says.

Why it matters: Harris changed her position on fracking after years of saying she’d abolish it. Now suddenly the political opportunist wants Americans to believe  she’s anything but a radical Green New Deal promoter.

She also tried talking her way out of her reversal on fracking, which she had opposed as a senator, explaining that her position is that “we have got to invest in diverse sources of energy, so we reduce our reliance on foreign oil.”

Even environmentalists are divided on whether her strategy helps her campaign — and the effort to combat climate change. They suddenly don’t trust her either.

Conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro’s video highlights why former President Donald Trump’s economic plan would boost American jobs, bring down energy prices and ease the financial burden of millions of households and small businesses.

Consider:

• Trump has pledged to lower taxes, reduce interest rates, lower energy costs and promote business expansion.
• He says his plan will “rapidly defeat inflation, quickly bring down prices and reignite explosive economic growth.”
• A government efficiency task force would audit the entire federal government and make drastic reforms, cutting red tape and bureaucracy.

 Under the Biden/Harris administration the cost of electricity has gone up 30.7%, gasoline up 45.8% and household energy prices have risen nearly 30% and inflation soared to a 40-year high in 2022.

 We can expect more of the same extreme policies like targeting major oil companies with burdensome over regulation and spending your tax dollars on electric vehicle charging stations, some of which didn’t work. ‘Kamalanomics’ would include ending Trump’s tax cuts and implementing a hefty tax hike on 25 million small business owners.

Bottom line: Voters would be wise to judge Kamala on her record over her newly minted policy positions. The fact is, she’s been hostile to American oil and gas producers since her time as California AG.

The issue: Several of the most powerful labor unions have endorsed Kamala Harris for president. We believe the rank and file members will regret their leaders’ decision if she’s elected. She doesn’t have their best interests in mind and working families across America deserve better.

Why it matters: The  AFL-CIO announced its support for the Democratic candidate. This follows a United Auto Workers endorsement of President Biden in January. What will be their fate should she get elected — and push the Green New Deal agenda that already has cost blue-collar workers their jobs.

AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler recently urged union workers to adhere to other laborers’ advice when voting, rather than their own friends or families. Interesting strategy. Let’s hope, for their sake, that their families are not in the unemployment line as a consequence of putting Kamala Harris in The White House.

Consider: The majority of union leaders have over generations endorsed Democratic candidates, and this race is no exception as both Harris and Trump court union voters.

• Although rank-and-file union members have historically sided with the Democratic Party by large margins, that support has wavered over the past several decades.
• In 2016, exit polls indicated that voters in union households supported Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton over Trump by only 8 percentage points, down from 18 percentage points in 2012.
• Union voters are particularly prominent in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Nevada, three swing states where the share of voters who belong to unions is above the national average of 10%.

Stellantis last month announced major layoffs at a pickup truck plant in Michigan. More automakers likely will do the same even though the ridiculous push for electric vehicles, a bedrock of the Inflation Reduction Act and green platform, has stalled.

Bottom line: The Harris/Walz green energy agenda would decimate the American manufacturing industry. From automakers to oil and gas workers, union laborers benefit from policies that promote American energy dominance.

A lot can change in three and a half years. At the beginning of Biden’s presidency, gas prices began to skyrocket, reaching a peak of over $4.50 in summer of 2022. As of today, the national average for a gallon of gasoline is $3.24. Experts say that gas prices could continue falling over the coming weeks, potentially helping to erase the memory of the pain felt at the pump under the Biden admin.

Hearing On Fusion Energy: On Thursday, September 19, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will have a hearing to examine fusion energy technology development and commercialization efforts.

FERC Open Meeting: On Thursday, September 19, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will hold an Open Meeting of the Commission.

“Now that both candidates have recognized the importance of hydraulic fracturing, policymakers must focus on energy policies that protect consumers, fix our broken permitting system, restore permits for U.S. LNG and expand access to energy resources.”

-American Petroleum Institute in a statement posted to Twitter/X.