Expanding the production and distribution of American energy must be a critical priority for the next President. The global demand for every kind of energy is rapidly increasing and will continue to grow for decades to come. Politicians like President Biden have purposefully blocked American energy production and put the nation’s economy and security at risk.
President Pence will set a clear goal of overtaking China as the world’s number one energy producer. By 2040, the United States can meet the energy demands of our own country while becoming the world’s top supplier of energy.
In order to win the future, America must have the energy capacity to independently power our economy and lead the world’s energy future. By lifting artificial government restrictions, ending preferences, and encouraging private production of every variety of American energy, President Pence will make certain America leads the world again.
A Clear Case for American Energy Leadership
First and foremost, energy of all varieties is an abundant natural resource in the United States. The extraction, production, transportation, and delivery of energy is an economic opportunity that can transform lives and communities here at home. By creating the conditions for long-term energy development, President Pence’s policy will spur job growth and fight inflation with lower energy prices.
Second, demand for all sources of energy will continue to increase for decades to come. Democrats can pretend that fossil fuels somehow are not a part of the world’s energy future, but Biden’s own Department of Energy has clearly admitted that demand for oil, gas, and coal is increasing. Access to energy has lifted the standard of living across the world. Developing countries are demanding more energy and want to work with a stable partner like America. If we don’t answer the call, China will.
Third, energy is vital to our national security. As the war in Ukraine and energy crisis in Europe have demonstrated, energy is a geopolitical weapon. While President Biden is unilaterally dismantling American energy production, countries around the world are looking for American energy leadership. Under Biden, China is gaining a critical energy foothold around the world while America recoils from the stage. We must produce and export every type of energy to maintain our influence around the world.
Biden’s War on Energy
Democratic energy policy under the Biden Administration has been based on the deception that fossil fuels are not a part of the world’s energy future. According to the Department of Energy, the world consumption of liquid fuels like oil and gas is expected to increase 36.7% from 92.1 million barrels per day in 2020 to 125.9 million barrels per day in 2050. The world consumption of natural gas is expected to increase 31.3% by 2050.
Instead of dealing with reality, the Biden Administration has declared war on the domestic extraction and production of fossil fuels. On his very first day in office, Biden took executive action to stop all new gas and oil leases on public land. From that day until now, this President has made it clear that he opposes the production of affordable American energy.
The result of President Biden’s anti-energy policies has been predictably higher costs for American families and more reliance on foreign adversaries. Since Biden took office, electricity has increased by 25% and gas has gone up 60%. Higher prices for energy are passed on to consumers and increase the cost for every product that is grown on a farm, built in a factory, or shipped on a truck.
Biden policies on energy have increased costs and weakened our country. That is why President Pence will make it his clear goal to make America the number one producer of energy once again. This includes all forms of U.S. energy. We will accomplish this goal because it will help our economy, lower prices for Americans, answer global demand, and restore leadership around the world.
RESTORING AMERICA ENERGY SUPREMACY
Once elected, President Pence will implement a comprehensive plan for an energy future without burdensome federal restrictions, without preferences for certain types of energy, and without delay. We will become the world’s number one energy producer again by implementing the following policies.
Immediately End Biden’s War on Domestic Energy
The very first thing that President Pence will take on to spur domestic energy production is to order agencies to unwind the myriad of regulatory and legal roadblocks created by President Biden. This Administration has systematically slow-walked oil and gas leases around the country while simply canceling other lease sales. In addition to withdrawing more areas in Alaska from oil and gas development, Biden has repeatedly delayed required federal plans for offshore oil and gas leases and halted construction of pipelines. The new “Social Cost of Carbon” rules give federal agencies extraordinary new power to regulate every type of energy. President Pence will immediately take executive action to review and remove every Biden era regulation that reduces energy production, impedes economic growth, or increases consumer prices.
Cut Permitting Approval Time in Half
The amount of time that it takes for the federal bureaucracy to approve energy development projects in the United States is one of the biggest reasons that America is falling behind when it comes to energy production. Since the year 2000, the time it takes an energy infrastructure project to go from the point of its first permit being filed to becoming operational has gone from two years to over five years in 2022. What is worse is the fact that the permitting process is rapidly diminishing energy transmission capacity. Only 21% of electricity transmission projects proposed between 2000 to 2017 are online. These delays destroy jobs and increase costs. President Pence will take executive action to fast track these approvals and reform the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to cut permitting times in half and get domestic energy online. Fast tracking pipeline approval will rapidly increase the distribution of oil and natural gas through projects like the Keystone Pipeline.
Open Drilling on Federal Land
The first step President Biden took to increase oil and gas prices was to freeze all production leases and permits on federal lands. The results have been disastrous. While Biden’s leasing ban was tied up in federal courts, the number of new permits for drilling plummeted from 4,900 in 2021 to 2,900 in 2022. Simply put, the government is cutting off oil drilling at the time when prices are rising, and American energy leadership is shrinking globally. Just last month Biden submitted rules to increase the fee for drilling royalties for the first time since 1920 and hike production costs by more than 33%. Our competitors are controlling the spigot and setting prices because we refuse to lead the world in oil production. President Pence will not ignore the fact that drilling technology makes it possible for America to lead the world and take advantage of the shale revolution by opening federal lands for leasing.
Remove Restrictions on Natural Gas Production and Distribution
Natural gas is an abundant American resource that currently provides 32% of all domestic energy. Unfortunately, President Biden’s proposed methane rules will have a chilling impact on the extraction and production of natural gas through hydraulic fracturing. By immediately dismantling these regulations, President Pence will unleash jobs across the heartland and lower heating costs. By cutting down permitting times and deregulating liquified natural gas (LNG) infrastructure rules, America will build more pipeline capacity and export terminal facilities. Expanding our leadership in natural gas production and exporting this crucial global commodity is key to regaining energy independence and national security.
Establish Source-Neutral Energy Policies
President Pence’s energy policies will truly be “all of the above” and focus on surpassing China’s energy production by any means necessary. Federal agencies will be given the clear directive to break down barriers to exploration, extraction, and production of any source of domestic energy. This includes petroleum, natural gas, coal, nuclear power, biomass, ethanol, wind, hydroelectric, solar, or geothermal. Even though renewables currently provide only 12% of energy in the United States today, they serve a place in America’s energy future. President Pence will implement policies to spur development of all energy sources by lifting regulations, such as those that prohibit year-round access to E15 ethanol blends.
Increase Refining Capacity
Sine 1982, the number of refineries in the U.S. has fallen from 301 to 129. Not surprisingly, our nation’s oil refining capacity is dropping under President Biden. One reason why the U.S. cannot currently become energy independent today is because we lack refining capacity, and many of our refineries are designed to work with foreign crude. To fully tap our vast oil reserve the U.S. needs to build refining capability. Environmental extremists have discovered that they can drive up oil prices and reduce supply by impeding the creation of domestic refineries. Their plan is working. Over the past 40 years, only 13 new refineries have gone online while 172 have shuttered. We need to turn that stat on its head. President Pence will start repealing the host of refinery regulations put in place in recent years and establish goals to increase refinery capacity. He will also scrap rules like the New Source Performance Standards, meant to limit refining in the name of unrealistic federal climate goals.
Access America’s Rare Earth Minerals
China continues to dominate the world in their extraction and processing. The Chinese now produce 63% of all rare earth minerals and process 85%. President Biden – while pretending like he had a plan to open America’s mineral resources – actually restricted access and blocked mining rights across the country. The current federal position on U.S. mineral mining is amorphous and ad hoc. The Department of Interior must review its current critical mineral extraction and processing procedures to maximize American production of rare earth minerals. President Pence will lift recent bans of mining on federal land and expedite the approval of rare earth mineral extraction and processing.
Replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve
President Biden’s targeted attack on the production of gas and oil in America resulted in less U.S. oil production and an immediate increase in oil prices. Since Biden took office, the price of gasoline has increased by 60%. When Americans demanded relief from Biden’s self-induced gas inflation crisis, he cynically drained America’s emergency oil reserve rather than approve leases and permits. The raid on the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) has reduced emergency oil stocks to the lowest level since 1983, all just to provide President Biden with political cover. President Pence will make it the policy of his White House to replenish 300 million barrels of emergency oil reserves without restricting crude oil exports.
Stop the Legal Assault on Energy
The Biden Administration has unleashed a new weapon in the war on American energy – policies that encourage environmentalists to file thousands of spurious lawsuits to slow down domestic oil and gas leases. Left wing groups constantly file lawsuits against domestic energy production as a tactic to delay legitimate projects and drive up the costs of energy. Now, President Biden is encouraging extremists to continue their legal barrage by delaying leases and permits in cases pending before the courts. The Administration has no legal reason to stop these projects from going forward. This is simply a new policy that encourages lawsuits even when they have little chance of success. President Pence will immediately restart all of these projects, eliminate the Department of Justice’s “Office of Environmental Justice,” and stop policies that help extremists use the courts to stop domestic energy production.
Remove Regulations That Increase Electricity Costs
Throughout his administration, President Biden has pursued policies that would punish traditional energy companies and increase the cost of electricity for American consumers, from “Power Plan 2.0” to his completely unfeasible mandate of zero-emissions by 2050. The end result is that electricity prices are up 25 percent since the start of the Biden Administration – a crushing blow to families already struggling under higher prices for housing, food, and transportation. Combined with his aggressive push to phase out gas-powered cars in favor of electric vehicles, his policies will continue to drive consumer electricity costs higher. Recognizing the importance of affordable energy, President Pence will roll back the regulatory burdens that are driving up electricity costs.
Reject Government Energy Preferences That Distort Markets
One of the most counterproductive energy policies in recent memory is the widespread use of the government to artificially influence energy demand. While the government has worked to limit oil, coal, and gas production, it subsidizes green energy at the expense of taxpayers. The outcome is a system that haphazardly funds energy sources that cannot even be used because of other regulatory barriers. At the same time, distortive ESG rules are designed to limit investment in fossil fuels and must be repealed. The government will never expand domestic energy development as well as the private sector. President Pence will not pick winners and losers in the energy market and will oppose any legislation that expands taxpayer subsidies for any forms of energy.
Provide Long-Term Certainty
In recent years, energy policy in the U.S. has changed dramatically based on who is President. After decades of a pro-U.S. energy status quo, Presidents Obama and Biden have both attacked American energy production. In order to provide certainty that future Presidents cannot alter, Congress must pass laws that statutorily guarantee access to energy development and extraction while setting specific timetables for government leases and approvals. President Pence will work with Members of Congress to enact long-term permitting reform, minimum timelines for leasing and permit approval, protect energy extraction methods, and build on the positive reforms contained in the recently passed House bill H.R. 1.