On 3/8/2022, Joe Biden said, “It’s simply not true my administration or policies are holding back domestic energy production.” Joe Biden announced the US will ban Russian oil imports, he blamed Russia for soaring gas prices and used this crisis as an opportunity to sell his green agenda, he says the crisis “Should Motivate Us To Accelerate A Transition To Clean Energy”. Joe Biden said, “the decision today is not without cost here at home… With this action, it’s going to go up further.”
After press conference, Biden shuffled away and refused to answer questions. “I’m off the Texas,” Biden said. “I know there’s a lot of questions, but there’s a lot more that has to be made clear and I’m gonna hold on that until we get more information.”
Fox Business’ David Asman Facts Checks Biden On U.S. Oil Production “We Could Ramp Up”. Energy industry representatives pushed back on a comment from White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki Monday regarding unused oil and gas leases, accusing the Biden administration spokesperson of misleading Americans with a “red herring.”
On 3/7/2022, Psaki said that the United States is already producing oil “at record numbers” and said “there are 9,000 approved drilling permits that are not being used.” “So, the suggestion that we are not allowing companies to drill is inaccurate,” she added. “I would suggest you ask the oil companies why they’re not using those if there’s a desire to drill more.” “That accusation is a complete red herring,” American Exploration & Production Council (AXPC) CEO Anne Bradbury told FOX Business. “It’s really a distraction from the fact that this administration has paused leasing on federal lands, something that we’re concerned about and something that we think needs to continue right away.”
“This represents a fundamental misunderstanding as to how this process works,” American Petroleum Institute (API) president and CEO Mike Sommers, “Once you lease land there is a whole process that you have to go through. First you have to actually discover whether actually there is oil and gas in that land. Second of all, you have to get a permit to actually develop that land.”
Energy Workforce and Technology Council CEO Leslie Beyer said “some permits are viable and some are not,” as a reason for why many are sitting unused. “The moratorium on leasing certainly adds an additional… block to American energy production, so that is the opposite of what we need to be doing right now,” she said. “We need to stop the rhetoric that’s anti-fossil fuel and we need some clarity just in the regulatory sense that this administration is behind domestic energy production.”