Republican governors gathered in Louisiana to let voters know they’re mad as hell about the Biden administration’s energy policy, and they’re not going to take it anymore.
“The inefficient and often unworkable mandates your administration continues to push are hitting Americans where it hurts the most – their pocketbooks,” the governors said in a letter to the White House.
Govs. Jeff Landry (La.), Doug Burgum (N.D.), Mike Dunleavy (Alaska), Brian Kemp (Ga.), Jim Pillen (Neb.), Chris Sununu (N.H.), Kevin Stitt (Okla.), and Glenn Youngkin (Va.) held a press conference at the foot of a major oil refinery in Chalmette, La. to reiterate that message.
“There is no one who knows more about the needs of Americans than governors,” said Landry. “Every day they’re in their state, every day they’re talking to regular people. They don’t live inside the Beltway. If the federal government took its foot off of the neck of American energy, we could absolutely lower the cost of everyday goods for American citizens.”
The governors say Biden’s energy policies “are costing American taxpayers $1.37 trillion and weakening America’s energy security.”
Pennsylvania’s Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro did not participate, but energy production is a key part of the state’s economy. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Pennsylvania is the nation’s second-largest natural gas producer after Texas, with natural gas output in the state totaling 7.5 trillion cubic feet in 2022.
It’s also the third-largest coal-producing state after Wyoming and West Virginia, and it is the second-largest coal exporter to foreign markets after West Virginia.
Stitt said the federal government “must stop picking winners and losers in this industry and let free markets and innovation flow.”
Burgum, who’s reportedly on Donald Trump’s shortlist for the vice president’s slot, said creating obstacles for American energy production only helps America’s adversaries.
“When you try to shut down an industry where innovation is thriving, you’re creating demand from places like Russia, Iran, and Venezuela – governments who don’t even have an EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) — forget the environment, they’re the ones funding the wars against us,” Burgum said.
“And if you’re on Team EV (electric vehicle), you’re on Team China.”
The Biden administration’s push to force more of America’s economy to go electric is raising risks for the electric grid in Pennsylvania and the surrounding region. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) lists the area served by grid operator PJM, which includes the Keystone State, as a region at elevated risk of electricity shortages during periods of high demand.
With more than half of Pennsylvania households using natural gas as their primary home heating fuel, converting to electric heat is only going to increase the risk to the grid. At the same time, the Biden administration’s EPA is shutting down coal-powered and other electricity generation.
“The Biden administration has hamstrung the American energy sector since day one,” said Craig Stevens, spokesman for the GAIN Coalition and former senior advisor to U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman. “De facto mandates for electric vehicles, the continual drawdown of our Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and the ban on liquid natural gas export permits are just a few short-sighted policies that could have long-term effects on our energy security.”
Stevens praised the governors for “pursuing an all-of-the-above strategy means utilizing all the tools at our disposal.”
“The U.S. should remove its regulatory barriers against the energy industry and allow the free market to support all types of energy innovation.”
Dunleavy said his state of Alaska is currently facing more than 60 energy-related sanctions from the federal government. “I think Iran has nine,” he quipped.
“If you believe in the Green New Deal, you need to be mining here in America and not overseas,” he added.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said abandoning American-made energy efforts would mean “driving this country right into the stranglehold of China.”
“If the Biden administration continues this drive to strengthen our demand for Chinese industry, we are causing a further national security crisis than the one we’re already in,” he said.
