Category: Energy Policy

Unrealistic and Impossible

It has been reported on several news outlets plans by the Biden administration to seek an outright ban on Russian oil imports.

I am sure this sounds very patriotic to the uninformed, but the reality is we are not an energy independent country. Furthermore, we cannot receive any assurances by our European allies they can fill the gap.

Of course, if a ban is adopted, it will be only by the United States. European countries depend on Russian imports, and they cannot count on the United States to supply their daily needs.

Right now, we cannot fulfill our own daily needs and it will be interesting to see how the Biden administration is going to manage it. Even if we were to use all our strategic reserves, the United States will run out in less than a week.

If you think prices are coming down, think again. Europe is dealing with high record oil and natural gas prices. The United States is also facing serious surge on energy prices with record high gasoline prices topping $4.103 per gallon.

Brent Crude oil has reached a high of $140.00 per barrel, and as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues without an end in sight, futures are only going to trade higher with Americans paying more at the pump.

The reality is the United States does not have the capacity to ban Russian oil imports without further damaging the economy and causing harm to American families. The lack of energy independence since the Biden administration’s cancelation of the Keystone Pipeline and revocation of drilling permits has only facilitated this disaster.

You would think Joe Biden would go to his congressional allies to tell them the Green New Deal is not a realistic endeavor and we need to resume the march towards energy independence, but that will never happen. Democrats are not going to give up on that. They do not care if you pay $10.00 for a gallon of gasoline. Would voters remember that in November? I will bet not.

As Americans suffer and the Biden administration continues to beat the drums of war, we will continue to depend on foreign actors for our energy needs while our national security is jeopardize.

Regardless of the mumbo jumbo you hear from the mainstream media, we cannot afford not to buy Russian imports, period. This is just another distraction, and the Biden administration hopes you will buy into it.

The Biden administration has decided to release 50 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves to quell the rising prices of gasoline.

32 million barrels will be an exchange and 18 million barrels are an advance release from a prior authorized sale.

What all these mumbo-jumbo means for American consumers? Absolutely nothing, zero, zilch, nada.

The United States consumes an average of 18.2 barrels of petroleum daily. At that pace, the amount released is only good for about three days, so you do the math.

Additionally, it will take at least two weeks to make all this happen, so do not expect to see any relief at the pump any time soon. You will continue to pay high gasoline prices, period.

As is garden variety with the Biden administration, this is nothing more than empty gestures. They know this is not going to alleviate our gasoline problem, but it makes them look like they are doing something.

Folks, they are not doing anything. Unfortunately, their base is dumb enough to see it, and with a left-wing media apparatus covering every mistake the administration makes, not too many people are going to see it for what it is, and they will praise the administration for it.

In the meantime, the government is going to pillage our reserves while shutting down energy sources that could safeguard our own future and energy independence.

Since we do not produce much anymore; how is the administration plan to restock the reserves? They do not know.

This has nothing to do with OPEC, the Trump administration, or none of that other nonsense the Biden administration wants you to believe. This has everything to do with the administration’s lack of a solid energy policy and our forced dependency on foreign oil.

In the words of Forrest Gump, “as stupid as stupid does.” The United States has been run by very stupid people.

The Energy Crisis and the Petroleum Strategic Reserves

To read blowhard liberals like Chuck Schumer complain about Joe Biden’s failed energy policies is a not a funny joke.

Over the weekend, Schumer was reported as saying gas prices were hurting millions of Americans and Biden must open the country’s petroleum strategic reserves to alleviate the prices at the pump.

I know Schumer is not the brightest bulb in the Democratic Party chandelier, but anybody who has been paying attention to this mess, understands this was a crisis perpetrated by the Biden administration.

The moment Biden shutdown pipelines and canceled drilling contracts, he killed the energy independence the United States achieved during the Trump administration.

We have the resources to produce and fulfill our energy needs. The strategic reserves are not to be used whenever we have an incompetent government in charge who wishes to pander to their left-wing benefactors.

The strategic reserves are not for hedging gas prices, they are to be used as a source for emergency fuel. Our current inventory as of November 2021 is 606.1 million barrels. Our current authorized storage capacity is 714 million barrels.

We are not even at maximum capacity, and they want to use what we have to fix the problem they created.

The highest inventory achieved in the United States was back in 2009 with a total of 726.6 barrels. At the end of CY 2019 (as of December 31, 2019), the SPR’s crude oil inventory was 634.9 million barrels.

You can read more about it here:  https://www.energy.gov/fecm/strategic-petroleum-reserve-9

Back to Schumer. He was quoted as saying, “Let me say what we all know: we’re all feeling the pain at the pump right now.”

Nice try Chuck. I’ll bet Schumer has not driven a car or filled up a gas tank in decades.

He rides around in his government issued vehicle and the taxpayers pay every time his chauffer fills up the tank. Schumer knows nothing about the real pain Americans are feeling these days.

Chuck Schumer is a career politician who has never held a real job in his life. When was the last time the senator had to make a tough financial decision? When was the last time the senator had to make a choice between paying his mortgage or feeding his children?

Chuck Schumer is nothing more than another out of touch politician who keeps getting elected to office because he has deep pockets to do so. He’s not what the Founding Fathers envisioned for our country.

You can share your story with Chuck right here:

https://www.schumer.senate.gov/contact/email-chuck

Sources:  One American News Network, U.S. Department of Energy

In the 1970’s we went through a couple of gas shortages in America. You would think, in 2021, our government would understand the need to become energy independent, especially when we have the resources to do so.

So, what happened in the 1970’s? Two things people are familiar with that came out of the 70’s crisis were Daylight Savings and the 55 mile per hour speed limit.

In a nutshell, in October 1973, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) started an embargo on oil exports to the United States because Arab countries were at war with Israel. The embargo was a result of the United States resupplying Israel’s military during the conflict.

The United States was dependent on foreign oil and gas prices almost doubled overnight . The system of “Odd and Even” rationing was born, and it lasted until 1974. More recently, we have seen this system reinstituted in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria destroyed the island in 2017.

In 1979 on the onset of the Iranian Revolution, Iranian oil production was halted. Oil shortages and gas price hikes showed up, once again, in the United States.

Oil markets went on a panic and the price of crude oil doubled. President Carter was quoted as saying of the crisis to be, “the moral equivalent to war.”  After the American embassy was seized, Carter declared and oil embargo on Iranian oil imports.

In 1990, after the invasion of Kuwait by “our former Man in Havana”, Saddam Hussein, another jump on crude oil prices and gasoline shortages were seen across the globe.

Fortunately for the United States, this was not a long lived shortage. Once the conflict was dealt with, prices decreased.

After these global incidents, most shortages in the United States have occurred due to unforeseen natural disasters and government ineptitude.

Before 2017, the United States was not an energy independent country. Mostly because of government over regulation of the oil and gas industries and Environmental Protection Agency mismanagement.

Once President Donald Trump was elected to office, the United States saw a renaissance of the oil and gas industries. Construction of the Keystone XL pipeline resumed and we were a leading producer of liquified natural gas in the world.

On June 2021, TC Energy announced the cancelation of the Keystone XL pipeline due to Biden’s denial of construction permits. This was the first stage of failure of American energy independence. Biden begged OPEC to produce more oil, but OPEC told him to pound sand.

After the “election” of Joe Biden, gasoline at the pump has gone up as much as $4.00 a gallon from an average of $1.85 before the 2020 “election.” In places like California, gasoline prices are as high as $5.00 a gallon and inching closer to $8.00 a gallon.

The difference between the shortages in the 1970’s, and today’s, is the fact those were caused by geopolitical and military actions.

In 2021, the energy crisis was perpetrated upon the United States by our own government and the reversal of almost every Executive Order issued by President Trump in support of energy independence.

This is a self-inflicted wound and one that it will be hard to heal. The Biden administration killed the energy sector in the United States, and you will pay the price for it.

This only hurts the working class, the poor, those living on a fix income and on government welfare.

People like Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and the rest of the Elite class, will continue to ride their SUV’s, even if gas prices reach $10.00 a gallon.

Do I believe we can end up in the same position as in the 1970’s? Absolutely!

Get those gas cans ready!