President Joe Biden pushed Russia and Saudi Arabia to increase oil production, blaming the oil-heavy countries for rising gas prices in the United States.
Biden did not address his own decision to cancel a number of oil projects in the United States in his first months in office, stifling the United States’ own long-term supply. The president has prioritized green energy development while cutting back on oil production over concerns about climate change.
Earlier this year, Biden asked Russia and Saudi Arabia, the oil-laden key players in OPEC+, to increase production to combat rising fuel prices in the United States. The cartel appears to have rejected Biden’s request and has not made a move to pump up oil production.
“I do think that the idea that Russia and Saudi Arabia and other major producers are not going to pump more oil so people can have gasoline to get to and from work, for example, is — is — is not — is not right. But — and what we’re considering doing on that, I’m reluctant to say before I have to do it,” Biden said over the weekend while attending the COP26 U.N. Climate Summit in Scotland, according to the New York Post.
Biden has urged allies to adopt his green energy priorities and tamp down on fossil fuel use. Asked about the inconsistency between petitioning OPEC+ to increase oil production while pushing allies to move away from fossil fuels, the president defended his approach as realistic.
“Well, on the surface, it seems like an irony, but the truth of the matter is — you’ve all known; everyone knows — that the idea we’re going to be able to move to renewable energy overnight and not have — from this moment on, not use oil or not use gas or not use hydrogen is just not rational,” Biden said. “But it does, on the surface, seem inconsistent, but it’s not at all inconsistent in that no one has anticipated that this year we’d be in a position — or even next year — that we’re not going to use any more oil or gas; that we’re not going to be engaged in any fossil fuels. We’re going to stop subsidizing those fossil fuels. We’re going to be making significant changes.”
Biden took steps to stifle a number of fossil fuel projects in his first days in office. As The Daily Wire reported:
The Biden administration’s overture to the cartel comes after his administration cracked down on oil and gas infrastructure projects that could have boosted oil supply and fuel production in the United States. Instead, the White House is attempting to push the United States to adopt more green energy technologies, such as electric cars.
As one of his first acts as president, Biden revoked a permit from the Keystone XL Pipeline project allowing the planned pipeline to cross over from Canada into the United States. Biden’s action effectively killed the pipeline, costing thousands of jobs. If completed, the pipeline would have shipped over 800,000 barrels of oil a day from Alberta, Canada, to refineries on the Gulf Coast of Texas.
In June, Biden suspended oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s 1002 area, a massive oil preserve located in Alaska. Former President Donald Trump finalized a plan to open the area to oil development in 2020 after decades of Alaskan officials lobbying the federal government.