Under President Joe Biden’s watch, the United States is experiencing an unprecedented surge in energy output, with records broken in oil, natural gas, and renewable power that would have been inconceivable twenty years ago.
Furthermore, nearly nobody is pleased with it.
Republicans are upset that Biden has decided to temporarily limit the skyrocketing rise of U.S. natural gas exports and that he is spending hundreds of billions of dollars on subsidies for renewable energy.
Meanwhile, Democrats and environmentalists who are concerned about climate change are claiming that Biden is betraying his climate change promises by approving fossil fuel projects like pipelines. Some even go so far as to say that he is discouraging the young people who will be crucial to his reelection campaign.
Still, the unfathomable landmarks keep piling up: In 2023, the United States produced more crude oil than any other country, including Saudi Arabia, had ever produced in a single year. It also ranks first in natural gas exports, which are becoming an increasingly important source of fuel for Asia and Europe. From practically nothing twenty years ago, wind and solar power have grown to become the nation’s fastest-growing power source, accounting for approximately 15% of the country’s electricity.
Thanks to this surplus—which is the outcome of drilling technology advancements, changes in energy tax policies across different administrations, goals for renewable energy production at the state level, and declining prices for wind and solar power—Biden has come the closest to implementing a “all of the above” energy economy since candidates for president from both parties began using the term in the 2000s.
However, the president’s life has been everything from carefree since the outcome. On the contrary, many voters are still unhappy with him because of the record-high petrol prices two years ago. Also, his government has some difficult choices to make about the future of fossil fuels, the primary drivers of climate change.
The Democratic senator from Colorado, John Hickenlooper, stated, “We are a ‘all of the above’ country in many ways.” His home state is hugely important in the oil industry. “However, is that enough? We must find a way to transition to clean energy in the end.
Also, Democrats are having trouble winning elections in coal-producing states like West Virginia because of the growth of alternative energy sources like wind and gas, which is displacing more traditional energy sources like coal.
The idea behind the phrase “all of the above,” which has been supported by politicians like Sarah Palin and Barack Obama in the past, is that having an abundance of all energy sources will lead to the creation of jobs, the maintenance of low consumer prices, and the acceleration of economic growth.
But “all of the above” typically means that lawmakers will back policies that use the energy source that most appeals to them. The Democrats, who are concerned about the increasing effects of climate change, support renewable energy sources like wind and solar power, while the Republicans, who believe the United States must continue to use its abundant oil and gas reserves, support fossil fuels.
With the exception of coal, whose consumption has dropped somewhat despite plentiful supply, the production of almost all forms of energy has increased during the last fifteen years, providing politicians with plenty ammo.
While Biden’s energy policy may have achieved the “all of the above” goal, Republicans point out that this is only because Democrats have heavily subsidised renewable energy sources.
The energy policy proposed by Biden is “not evidence-based — it’s based more on ideology and politics,” remarked Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas during an interview. In addition to being home to the headquarters of electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla, the state of Cornyn is also the nation’s leading producer of wind power, oil, and natural gas.
Cornyn, a Republican running to replace outgoing GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell, called Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act climate policies “wasted money” and said he would be open to revisiting the law if Trump were to win the presidency again in November.
The United States seems to have come closer than ever before to implementing a “all of the above” energy policy, despite politicians’ twenty years of empty promises. For instance, it surpassed all other countries in terms of petrol exports in 2017, became the leading producer of oil in 2018, and turned into a net exporter of fuel in 2011.
Pulitzer Prize–winning oil historian and S&P Global VP Dan Yergin stated, “We’re moving on all fronts at the same time.”
“In terms of the U.S. role in global energy, there’s this huge shift that I don’t think is very well appreciated in the United States itself,” Yergin said. “The United States is in a unique position when it comes to energy; few other countries can match our ability to do all of these things simultaneously.”
Renewable energy and oil and gas production have both been boosted by Biden’s policies, which include his public support for clean energy and his administration’s efforts to keep fossil fuels under wraps.
An avalanche of renewable energy projects for electric vehicles, wind turbines, solar panels, geothermal heat, batteries, and the Inflation Reduction Act are propelled by the infrastructure bill’s bipartisan incentives worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Plus, they’re rooting for the government to upgrade its nuclear reactors, which are getting on in years, with newer, safer ones.
At the same time, numerous large-scale oil drilling and pipeline projects have been authorised by Biden’s Interior Department, and a continual stream of drilling permits on public land has been approved. According to the Energy Information Administration, an independent statistical branch of the Energy Department, that helped make last year’s U.S. crude oil output the greatest of any country in history, at 12.9 million barrels per day.
Republicans have continued to criticise Biden for dragging his feet on new lease sales for drilling on public lands and halting certain pipelines, though. Additionally, the Energy Department stated that it will temporarily halt the issuance of new export permits for liquefied natural gas.
This month, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise released a statement in which he attacked Biden, claiming that the vice president “flies to Saudi Arabia and begs them to produce more energy” while “shutting down American energy.” The 2022 visit by Biden to the kingdom was a diplomatic mission in response to the surge in oil prices induced by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The massive Inflation Reduction Act, which was signed into law by Vice President Joe Biden over two years ago, is still a contentious political issue. However, even Republicans concede that it is changing the energy scene.