Rep. Graves: Biden “Doubling Down on Stupid” — Emissions Up 6.3% Under Biden After Falling 2.5% Under Trump, Budget Bans Lowering Oil Costs

On 3/14/2022, Rep. Garret Graves of Louisiana delivered a devastating floor speech accusing the Biden administration of “doubling down on stupid” on energy policy, revealing that Biden’s own budget contained an explicit provision banning investments that would reduce the cost of oil and gas. Graves also dropped a “shocking fact”: emissions actually rose 6.3% under Biden’s first year after falling an average of 2.5% per year under Trump — demolishing the climate argument for restricting domestic production.

”Doubling Down on Stupid”

Graves framed the energy crisis as entirely predictable. “We have been predicting, we have been saying, we have been calling for this exact scenario. Not for weeks or months, but for years,” Graves said. “We’ve offered amendments to say that if gas prices exceed $4 a gallon, then you’ve got to produce domestically.”

“And I’ll tell you who’s opposed our efforts every single time. It’s been Democrats. This isn’t political. That’s just a fact,” Graves said. “History is going to repeat itself, especially if we keep making the same stupid mistakes that we made and should have learned from years ago.”

He compared the situation to “quitting your job without a plan to figure out how you’re going to pay your rent, your car note, or get groceries. Doubling down on stupid, and shame on us for continuing to repeat the mistakes of the past.”

Biden Budget Bans Lowering Oil Costs

Graves revealed an extraordinary provision buried in Biden’s budget request. “In the President’s budget request to the Congress, there’s an explicit provision in there that says they won’t make investments that result in a reduction — that result in a reduction — of the cost of oil and gas,” Graves said.

“Let me say that again. In the President’s budget request to the Congress, there’s a provision that says they will not make investments in projects that result in a reduction in the cost of oil and gas,” Graves repeated. “Let me translate it another way: we want higher energy prices. They’ve clearly succeeded in that objective.”

Emissions Up 6.3% Under Biden

Graves delivered his most damaging data point. “Under the previous administration, we reduced emissions on average 2.5% a year. Reduced the emissions,” Graves said. “How many of you think that under President Biden’s administration last year, we reduced them even more?”

“They actually went up 6.3% last year,” Graves revealed. “There’s not a strategy for energy out of this administration. It’s higher prices, it’s energy insecurity, and it’s higher emissions. You’re not achieving any objective that makes any sense whatsoever.”

The statistic undermined the central premise of Biden’s energy restrictions — that limiting domestic production would reduce carbon emissions.

The 2014 Parallel

Graves drew a direct historical parallel. “The last time that Ukraine was invaded was during President Obama’s time. You know what else was going on at the same time? Another coincidence — we had reached peak dependence upon Russian energy,” Graves said.

“Vladimir Putin knew in 2014 that he had us. He had leverage over us because we were so dependent upon them for energy, and he invaded Crimea,” Graves continued. “Now, once again — increasing our dependence, nearly tripling our crude oil imports from Russia last year — they knew that they had us again.”

38 Billion Barrels in the Ground

Graves cited the scale of untapped domestic reserves. “We have 38 billion barrels of technically proven reserves in the United States. 38 billion barrels. But instead, we’re importing energy from Russia,” Graves said.

“And you’ve seen the latest — the administration’s now gone to talk to the Saudis, and they cut a cruddy deal with Iran, and they’re in Venezuela negotiating with them. Going from bad to worse,” Graves said. “No leasing, no exploration and production. That’s not an energy policy. That’s completely flawed strategy.”

The Build Back Better Energy Taxes

Graves catalogued the anti-energy provisions Democrats had pushed. “Under the Build Back Better Act, they imposed severance taxes on energy. They imposed up to a $10,000-a-mile-a-year fee on pipelines. They increased royalty rates,” Graves said. “Who’s surprised that this is happening right now? This was entirely part of their plan.”

“And now — the highest gasoline prices in American history, people calling our office telling us they can’t afford to refill their gas tanks to get to work. This is appalling. It was preventable,” Graves said.

Key Takeaways

Biden’s own budget contained a provision banning investments that would reduce the cost of oil and gas — effectively codifying a policy of higher energy prices.
Emissions rose 6.3% under Biden’s first year after falling an average of 2.5% per year under Trump, undermining the climate rationale for restricting production.
Graves warned the energy crisis was “entirely predictable” and that Republicans had been “calling for this exact scenario for years” while Democrats opposed every amendment.
Russian crude imports had nearly tripled under Biden, recreating the same dependence that enabled Putin’s 2014 Crimea invasion.
The U.S. had 38 billion barrels of proven reserves but was instead seeking oil from Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Venezuela.

Transcript Highlights

The following is transcribed from the video audio (unverified — AI-generated from audio).

In the President’s budget, there’s a provision that says they will not make investments that result in a reduction in the cost of oil and gas. We want higher energy prices.
Under the previous administration, we reduced emissions 2.5% a year. Under Biden last year? They went up 6.3%.
We’ve been predicting this for years. Democrats have opposed our efforts every single time.
Doubling down on stupid, and shame on us for repeating the mistakes of the past.
We have 38 billion barrels of proven reserves. Instead, we’re importing from Russia and negotiating with Venezuela.
People calling our office telling us they can’t afford to refill their gas tanks to get to work. This was preventable.

Full transcript: 1181 words transcribed via Whisper AI.