House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) blasted President Joe Biden’s energy policies as an “attack” on American energy that is empowering our enemies.
McCarthy said that “God has blessed” the United States with the ability to be energy independent during an appearance on WABC 770 AM’s “Cats Roundtable” with host John Catsimatidis on Sunday. He said the Biden administration’s push toward relying only on renewable energy is “helping our adversaries.”
“They hurt America by cutting off what God has blessed this country to do, where we can be energy independent, raising the price of fuel, and what that does as well is raises inflation for everybody,” McCarthy said.
The speaker explained that crude oil extends far beyond use in just cars, but is also used for making phones, shirt buttons, street pavement, and other items. McCarthy said under President Biden, the United States is “dependent” on foreign countries that are now upping the prices.
“We want to be energy independent,” McCarthy told Catsimatidis, adding that American energy independence actually makes the environment “better” because American natural gas is “41% cleaner than Russian natural gas.” Energy independence also means more jobs for Americans, the speaker says.
“The Biden administration has gone in and done an attack on the energy business, only wants renewable energy instead of all of the above, made the price of energy higher which you feel in New York, made inflation higher because the gasoline price is now higher, jet fuel price is higher, inflation gets added on compounded, so your food price is higher,” McCarthy explained.
“This is mainly by his policy attacking American energy,” he added. “It doesn’t mean we buy less, it means we’re buying it from our enemies.”
On Thursday, crude oil exceeded $90 a barrel, the highest since November 2022, according to Axios. Gas prices have skyrocketed under Biden, reaching their highest levels in 2023 last week. As of Sunday, the average cost of a gallon of gas is $3.87, a substantial increase from the $2.39 average price on the day Biden was inaugurated.
“I’m going to get those gas prices down again, I promise you,” Biden vowed in a Thursday speech.
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In 2020, under then-President Donald Trump, the United States became a net exporter of petroleum for the first time since 1949, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. In one of the final actions in his administration, seven ten-year oil and gas leases were issued in Alaska which spanned 365,775 acres in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, according to Fox News. Earlier this month, the Biden administration canceled all of those leases, citing climate change, angering local and state officials.
“Having just spent more than a month home in communities across our state, there is palpable anger and frustration among Alaskans about the Biden administration’s unrelenting assault on our economy and our ability to lawfully access our lands,” Alaska Republican Senator Dan Sullivan told Fox. “This war on Alaska is devastating for not only Alaska but also the energy security of the nation,”
In March, the House passed an energy package that aims to boost sales and production of oil and gas, speed up permitting reform, and repeal specific “Inflation Reduction Act” policies regarding climate change, according to The Hill.
“This is all from Democratic policies from this administration not just hurting America and our economy, but helping our adversaries be stronger. That is why we need an American energy policy, which the House has passed, that makes America energy independent, utilizing all forms of energy from renewable, from nuclear, from oil and natural gas as well,” McCarthy told Catsimatidis.