Former Energy Secretary and Republican Governor of Texas, Rick Perry, recently said President Biden’s bowing to the left-wing Green New Deal and Progressive agendas is evident in his refusal to take steps to lower energy prices.
Perry said that Biden is willing to allow Americans to increasingly scrape to make ends meet and increasingly suffer because he is so loyal to the Democratic socialist wing of his party and green energy agenda. “They believe that $6 [per gallon] gas will stop people from using gasoline, and all it’s doing is killing the middle and lower class in this country,” said Perry.
Former Governor Perry recounted a recent visit he paid to a recycling facility in La Grange, Texas, where a worker told him that he had only to fill his vehicle up halfway to allow him to afford food for his family. “And he said, you know what? I’m about to believe the only people in this country that are Democrats — are the rich — because us poor folks, we’re done with them, and I think that was a real statement about what’s happening in this country,” said Perry.
Perry continued, “Joe Biden and all his rich friends, all that woke Left, they don’t care about $6 gasoline. They think that’s a great thing, but it’s killing America.”
The White House insists the Biden administration is doing what it can to curb the rapidly growing energy crisis. Economists have cited the government’s ability to issue waivers for the Jones Act. The Jones Act is a 1920s protectionist law prohibiting the direct connection of foreign-flagged ships to two U.S. ports.
Oil refiners have preferred selling to Holland instead of shipping to ports in New Jersey to avoid Jones Act roadblocks. According to economic experts, gasoline supply would increase if the administration were to issue waivers. Former Gov. Perry added that in addition to waivers of the Jones Act, President Biden could immediately reverse the increasing restrictions on Alaska oil exploration.
No sale of gas and oil leases
The Department of the Interior will not be holding sales of gas and oil leases for millions of acres in the Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of Alaska. However, climate activists warn that the United States is not doing enough to limit new gas and oil production to keep global warming from becoming catastrophic.
The department canceled its plan to lease around a million acres in Alaska in the Cook Inlet. According to an email sent by department spokesperson Melissa Schwartz, an additional two lease sales planned for the Gulf of Mexico will also be canceled. Schwartz said it would be canceled due to legal issues and a lack of time.
The current offshore development plan belonging to the federal government expires at the end of June. Once it lapses, no new offshore leases can be issued by the Department of the Interior until a new plan is implemented. Although the federal government is legally required to create a new plan, there has been no new proposal from the Biden administration yet. This means lease sales are unlikely to resume until 2023 at the earliest.
