Source: National Review Online.
Among the foolish things we hear from time to time is the claim that government policies are not to blame for the high prices consumers experience at the gas pump. Coronavirus did it, we are told, or Putin did, or corporate greed, or etc. Whatever did it, it wasn’t the angry bird in the Oval Office or his flock.
Well, of course, everything that happens in the world affects every other thing that happens or exists. In this sense one can blame anyone or anything for anything at all, which Joe Biden does shamelessly.
High gas prices, however, reflect the fact that gas producers right now cannot produce enough gas for prices to fall. NRO mentions several reasons for this:
- Oil refineries cannot be built.
- The Jones Act limits oil imports.
- Federal policy seeks to reduce future demand for fossil fuels.
Other factors apply, but overall the problem is that Joe Biden and his cronies are committed to controlling the oil industry the way the Soviets once were committed to controlling the wheat industry.
Tidewater News and Opinion Forum 
If you are going to post a link, then it behooves you to summarize the contents honestly and accurately. You have failed to do so with this one and that is obvious from the first paragraph of the opinion piece. You spin this article to blame President Biden for high gas prices at the pump. What does the article say…
“Gasoline prices are largely out of Biden’s control, with prices determined on global markets and various industrial factors limiting supplies.”
That is a FACT that you characterize as “foolish.”
Your summation comparing President Biden to the Soviets is utter nonsense.
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You choose one line from the article but ignore the point of the article as a whole.
First, the US is the world’s largest producer of oil, and what happens here does affect the world price of crude oil and thus the price. With nearly inflexible demand, even a 5% shortfall in production can spike the price.
But the point is Biden’s duplicity on the issue.
Biden criticizes the shortage of refinery capacity, while at the same time making building, or even repairing, refineries impossible.
Biden criticizes not drilling on every lease taken, knowing full well that many leases overlap oil deposits and thus are taken to secure the rights to a pool even though it is not necessary to drill on every lease to exploit the deposit.
Biden criticizes the failure to exploit known deposits, while blocking the pipelines necessary to move the oil to market.
Biden criticizes oil companies taking profits instead of investing in exploration while blocking lease sales and publicly stating that he intends to bankrupt fossil fuel producers, Would you change the oil in a car that was going to be repossessed?
That is the point. It is clear that Biden wants gasoline to be unaffordable to force people into electric cars and public transit, as part of his “great transition.” he just wants the price hikes to come after the election, or at least to escape the blame.
It is Biden’s policy to drive the fossil fuels companies out of business but he is too much of a political coward to stand by his policy.
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As usual, you see what you want to see.
I cited that one line that totally negates Mr. Roberts unwarranted attack on President Biden. If this is an authoritative article, then that is by far the most relevant point made. And, as is typical of you people, the attacks are not just on his policies that you disagree with, they are attacks on his character. Haters gotta hate.
There is no shortfall in production. Google it for yourself. Demand is NOT inflexible – it goes way up when the economy is booming as it is now.
The cost of raw petroleum is not the cause of the high prices at the pump. West Texas Crude is a benchmark. It costs no more today than it did in 2014. Google it for yourself. Record oil company profits are the result of the high prices at the pump that do not reflect higher costs at the wellhead.
We have almost three million miles of oil and gas pipelines. Your argument about lack of pipelines being a significant impediment to supply is fanciful at best.
Biden publicly stating that he intends to bankrupt oil companies? I am sure you have some out-of-context quote or misstatement to back up such nonsense. But the reality is that lifetime of fossil fuels monopoly on energy is finite and rapidly coming to an end. Energy CEOs don’t need President Biden to tell them that so – in the best interest of their shareholders – they are price gouging while they still can.
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Even were the NRO statement on prices correct, and it is at best partly true, the point is Biden’s duplicity in blaming the oil companies for the regulatory obstacles he places in their way.
For example, if a refinery is to be built, or repaired, it can’t be done in an industrial area because there are Black neighborhoods nearby, but it can’t be built in the countryside because of environmental concerns.
It doesn’t matter if we have 3 million or 30 million miles of pipeline if they don’t go where needed. A new well must have a pipeline to connect it to existing conduits.
Would you put tens of millions of dollars into drilling exploratory and production wells on a new field if there was doubt you could get the feeder pipeline built because it passes near a Native American burial site(there is hardly any route that doesn’t) or through the habitat of a rare slug?
There is liquid petroleum for the next hundred years and natural gas for at least 400.
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Duplicity?
Typical. Haters gotta hate.
Biden makes an honest point. With costs of petroleum not through the roof but gas prices doubling, there are corporate pricing decisions involved in the increase and NOT the factors you try to blame him for.
It is hard to argue with people who rely on an article like this one but only the parts of it that say what they want to say. There is no actual way for the President to have much affect on gasoline prices one way or another according to your experts but you just say no – that is not true.
Yes, there are always concerns where major industrial facilities are built. Biden did not invent the NIMBY problem. And, believe it or not, black people and native Americans have every right to speak out against projects that will directly affect their lives.
Personally, I do not think people will be driving gasoline powered cars 100 years from now. For example, Hyundai is coming to market with a range of all-electric vehicles built on a standard base. The first is available now – Ioniq5, an SUV with 300 mile range and an 18 minute charge cycle to go from 10% to 80%. The price of around $40,000 is not much different than gasoline powered SUVs of similar abilities and trim. And that is NOW, not 100 years from now. Those oil company CEOs are not blind. They are out to make hay while the sun shines.
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Hopefully in far less than 100 year most people will be driving electrics but to conserve liquid petroleum for pace it is really needed. like airplanes and boats.
But interfering in the market to drive that is not the right choice and we are not ready for an electric fleet until we build a LOT MORE nuke plants. If everyone in Chesapeake drove an electric tomorrow, we’d melt down the transmission lines.
I do expect a price war on electrics as soon as the subsidies end. There’s really no reason for their high price.
But I find it interesting that Biden says increasing US production won’t do much good but draining the emergency reserves, which are far less than what is being held back by pipeline delays, is going to fix things(perhaps till the election)
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Well, I think you know that I agree that nuclear energy needs to be part of the energy future. I also agree that an instant switch to all electric vehicles would not be possible with the current grid and current demands for electricity. That is why beefing up the grid is always part of Democrat infrastructure spending plans. And there are a couple of other points to offset the problem you identify…
We are rapidly moving away from incandescent lighting with dramatic reductions in the energy used.
Domestic solar installations such as the one that Lois described the other day are becoming a lot more common.
The need for government to put its thumb on the scales for green energy is diminishing every day due to rapid technological improvements and economies of scale kicking in, so before much longer this disagreement will become moot.
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RE: “I cited that one line that totally negates Mr. Roberts unwarranted attack on President Biden.”
You screwed up, Mr. Murphy. That one line you cited isn’t a statement of fact around which NRO’s piece is built. It is, in context, a sarcastic criticism of our incompetent president. So, yet again, you have demonstrated your habit of condemning others for your own mistakes.
Joe Biden is the worst president in history. There is no technical reason gas prices should be surging today, but Biden is too stupid, feeble or mendacious to grasp this reality.
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Bullshit piled on bullshit.
It is not sarcasm; it is a fact. The President has very little ability to control the price of gasoline for the reasons clearly stated by the author you want us to read.
“There is no technical reason gas prices should be surging today”
So, if your statement is true then President Biden is 100% correct – it is corporate price gouging and nothing else.
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RE: “The President has very little ability to control the price of gasoline for the reasons clearly stated by the author you want us to read.”
The president has big abilities to encourage gasoline production as both NRO and I point out:
He could cut red tape to allow new oil refineries to be built.
He could work with Congress to repeal the Jones Act.
He could cancel federal programs that seek to reduce future demand for fossil fuels.
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Your hypotheticals of what Biden could do are not persuasive.
And, in any case, he has been in office less than two years. If he had done everything you list on January 20th, 2021 the gas price situation would be the same as it is now.
The “red tape” around building refineries is mostly local. Name one oil refinery project that has been killed by federal regulations while Biden has been in office. In fact, oil refineries have been closing based on corporate decisions.
The Jones Act gets blamed for a lot of things. It has been on the books for over 100 years. The extra cost of using American ships and American crews is trivial compared to the value of the cargo in question.
What federal programs “reducing future demand for fossil fuels” should be cancelled? Those are just empty words unless you can be more specific and how INCREASING demand for fossil fuels would work to lower the price of fossil fuels. That old law of supply and demand thing, you know.
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RE: “If he had done everything you list on January 20th, 2021 the gas price situation would be the same as it is now.”
So what? You say, “The President has very little ability to control the price of gasoline…” I refute your claim by listing three examples that show the president’s big ability to encourage gasoline production.
You have misread the NRO story and you have challenged my commentary in an incompetent way. I’m done with indulging your fantasies.
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“I refute your claim by listing three examples that show the president’s big ability to encourage gasoline production.”
I countered each of your examples with reasoned responses. What is your comeback?
“I’m done with indulging your fantasies.”
And so you say every time your slanders, name-calling, and asinine bullshit is challenged.
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From the article, no large refinery has been built since 1976. No attempt at building a refinery since 2005, when one was thought of in Arizona, but failed.
So, a lot of administrations have come and gone, with no new refineries. Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump. But it is all Biden’s fault that there are no new refineries.
Even if Biden got rid of all red tape when he took office, no refinery would be in operation now if immediately started.
Another point, normally when there is a supply problem, the commodity in question is in short supply. Yet, I have not seen any indication in my travels in the USA (east coast from NY to FL) that anyone is out of gas. All stations have gas, there is no rationing, no long lines. always available. Unlike baby formula (and TP during the start of COVID).
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RE: “So, a lot of administrations have come and gone, with no new refineries. Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump. But it is all Biden’s fault that there are no new refineries.”
Biden will deserve as much blame as prior presidents if he fails to address the need for more refineries.
RE: “Another point, normally when there is a supply problem, the commodity in question is in short supply.”
Physical shortages of a commodity tend first to drive prices up. Rationing, long lines and other consequences begin to show up later.
More generally, you are correct that there is no shortage of oil as a raw material. The oil industry, however, has no incentive to invest in production to meet future demand because the administration is pursuing a green agenda specifically to prevent the consumption of future oil.
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“Biden will deserve as much blame as prior presidents if he fails to address the need for more refineries.”
Nonsense. The industry has been CLOSING refineries and has not even proposed to build any new ones. Reality has a liberal bias. Again.
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“Biden will deserve as much blame as prior presidents if he fails to address the need for more refineries.”
How much blame did the prior presidents get for new refineries not opening since 1976?
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I’ll give Biden credit for one thing, he sure knows how to intentionally screw things up and then cast blame for the abysmal results on anyone or anything but himself. No the tanking economy, ultrahigh inflation, exorbitant gas prices and collapse of our southern border are squarely in his lap. No Trump or. Russia distraction will help democrats in november.
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