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Mullin
The Eiden Administration's refusal to protect American energy independence h as rendered our country incapable of standing firm against Russia's aggress ion towa rds Ukraine.
It's no secret President Eiden set out to dimini sh American energy independence from the start. From killing the Keystone XL pipeline and rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement, to enacting his anti-fossil fuel agenda while simultaneously begging OPEC+ to produce more oil, the Eiden Administration has weakened our energyindustryin every way. Now, we are experiencing the consequences of this weakness in real time.
President Eiden lost his leg to stand on. He emboldened Putin in weaponizing European en ergy by waiving sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and lobbying against having these sanctions reinstated. The President of the United States h elped Putin in his effort to control the entire energy market which is a dangerous situation if he succeeds. In 2009, Russia single-h andedly created an en ergy crisis by cutting off gas flow to Ukraine following a supply contract dispute. Why would h e not do this again elsewhere?
President Biden's refusal to prioritize American producers makes the United States reliant on our adversaries, like Putin. The United States currently imports an average of 694,000 barrels of crude oil and petroleum from Russia per day. This is a 34 percent increase from when President Trump was in office and costs our country $22 million more per day. The Keystone XL Pipeline was expected to import roughly 830,000 barrels per day, which would have more than covered what we are importing from Russia. President Eiden announced he was placing economic sanctions on Russia. Ifhe is serious, he would stop these imports too and end his anti-fossil fuel rhetoric.
Oklahomans are already feeling the consequences of these international tensions. Due to th e decrease in oil supply and disruptions in the flow, gas prices are the highest they h ave been in eight years. Further, there is a real threat of inflation rising as high as 10 percent if the conflict continues to escalate.
We are seeing a worst-case scenario play out in real life. Unfortunately, it did not have to be this way. America could be energy independent if we had a president that stood behind our energy suppliers and prioritized production here at home. What we are suffering is the direct consequence ofPresident Eiden's bad policy.