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Derrick Hollie

As temperatures drop and inflation continues to plague American consumers, Project 21 member Derrick Hollie warns that “higher energy prices are a feature, not a bug” in the Biden Administration’s economic agenda.

Not that the White House wants to admit it.

Derrick pointed out in a RealClearEnergy commentary:

A gallon of gasoline costs $1.29 more today than it did this time last year. The U.S. Energy Information Administration forecasts that this winter Americans will be paying 30% more for natural gas, 43% more for heating oil, 6% more for electricity and 54% more for propane to heat their homes than they did last winter – and even more if the weather is colder than normal. Higher energy costs have a disproportionate impact on vulnerable populations, including minority and low- and fixed-income households. These costs are essentially a regressive tax on the poor.

And yet Derrick commented that this is what the Biden Administration seems to want, because “higher energy costs [are seen] not as a problem but as an opportunity” – since higher energy prices are needed to bring oil and natural gas to competitive price points with the renewable sources preferred by the left.

But, when the backlash hit, it was Biden who tried to shift the blame – sending the Federal Trade Commission after alleged price-gouging and market manipulation. As Derrick explained:

This move attempts to deflect attention from the administration’s responsibility for higher oil and gas prices. It has purposely looked to cripple the domestic fossil fuel industry through policies like killing the Keystone XL pipeline and (illegally) banning oil and gas development on federal lands. These policies have worked to chill investment and development. With demand rising, output of oil and gas should be booming, but it’s still well below pre-pandemic levels.

“Now, having hamstrung the domestic oil and gas industry, the administration has been reduced to pleading with OPEC+ (which includes adversaries such as Russia, Iran and Venezuela) to increase oil production,” Derrick remarked. And OPEC+ rebuking Biden has hurt America’s stature among other governments. This is obviously not in the best interests of the nation:

The United States has enjoyed a competitive advantage because of its lower energy costs. American industries pay anywhere from two to four times less for energy than industries in Europe. The Biden administration is pursuing policies that would surrender that advantage by saddling energy producers and consumers alike with more regulations and taxes.

To read all of Derrick’s RealClearEnergy commentary – “Regressive Energy Taxes Hit Poor and Lower-Income Families, Creates More Inflation” – click here.

Author: David Almasi