We’ve been covering the Biden energy crisis here for some time now, highlighting the various challenges facing the country in terms of keeping the lights on, keeping people’s homes heated in the winter, and generally keeping civilization humming along as you have a right to expect in a supposedly first-world nation. But pointing out shortcomings isn’t enough. There need to be concrete solutions put on the table and a willingness among the voters to demand action from the government. This week, one of the more comprehensive and coherent action plans to accomplish these goals landed on our collective doorstep and it’s being proposed by Power the Future.
Power the Future is an American energy advocacy and research organization that promotes solutions to energy-related crises currently facing the United States. In a report simply titled Energy Policy Roadmap, the group sets forth ten basic steps that President Joe Biden and/or Congress could begin taking immediately before we run out of diesel, experience more rolling blackouts, and all the rest of the very real threats America is facing because of the current destructive energy policies that are now in place.
Since coming to office in 2021, the Biden administration has unleashed a war on American energy. They’ve blocked projects, slowed permits, and implemented punishing regulations. The results have been catastrophic for America’s families, workers, and economy. The next Congress has the opportunity to undo some of that damage.
In this new report, Power the Future compiled an “Energy Policy Roadmap for 2023,” a roadmap that includes a top ten list of policies that, if enacted, can help reverse the destruction caused by Biden’s anti-energy Green New Deal. The list covers the entire energy supply chain, from production (upstream) to pipelines (midstream) to refineries (downstream)—and is designed to create and protect jobs, lower energy prices for consumers, strengthen energy security, and return energy independence to the United States.
Here is the bullet list, and every item on here could be put into motion tomorrow if Joe Biden has the will to take action or if the new Congress is willing to stand up to him and put corrective measures in place.
- Repealing Joe Biden’s Natural Gas Tax
- Ending Biden’s Oil and Gas Leasing Moratorium/Return Power to States
- Approving the Keystone XL Pipeline
- Blocking Biden’s ESG Regulations
- Repealing the California Waiver
- Ending Activist-led “Sue and Settle” and “Citizen Lawsuits”
- Banning Use of the “Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases”
- Issuing Automatic Approvals for LNG Export Terminals
- Overturning Massachusetts v. EPA
- Stopping Biden’s War on Coal
If any of those specific policies and trends don’t seem self-explanatory, you can get the details and definitions in the full report, which you can download here.
Even if you think it sounds “too simple” to undo much of what has been done over the past two years, that’s not the case. Many of the items listed are only in place because Joe Biden put them in place via executive action. He could undo many of those things with the stroke of a pen and without needing the cooperation of Congress. Other items may require some congressional action, but our elected officials are only supposedly in office to solve problems, right? Well, when it comes to energy policy we have plenty of problems for them to address and the clock is ticking.
So how long would it take for the government to make this happen? We asked Power The Future Western States Director Larry Behrens to give us an estimate. He pointed out that destruction can always happen more rapidly than construction, sadly. Some of these goals will take some time to achieve, but the possibility for rapid progress is still in play. He said, “Sadly, energy infrastructure can be cut off very quickly (Keystone XL for example) but it takes time to build it back up. I would offer a rough estimate that it would take well over a year, maybe more. However, when American energy workers are allowed to do their jobs without needless interference, they’ve been known to get the job done very quickly. ”
We’ve been trying to warn people about the coming blackouts since the spring. We are on the verge of a diesel shortage that could cripple the country and even CNBC described it as “a perfect storm.” And we brought all of this on ourselves through flawed government policies. These are self-inflicted wounds and this should not be a partisan issue. It’s going to impact everyone regardless of party politics. The United States has gone from being completely energy independent to the mess we’re observing now in barely three years. The situation could still be salvaged, but it’s going to take work. And the people in Washington are the ones who will have to put that hard work in or face the wrath of their citizens when we can no longer supply even their most basic energy needs.
