Horowitz: Time for red states to declare energy independence and thwart Biden’s embargo on US production

 Biden can keep his windmills and solar panels and keep making us beholden to Putin’s petro-tyranny monopoly; we will use our God-given resources to become independent and lower consumer prices. That in a nutshell needs to be the message of GOP governors.

Whatever one believes we can and should do now to deter Putin’s growing hegemony, American and European leftists are the ones who empowered him to begin with by funding the solar and wind energy boondoggles while declaring war on fossil fuels. God has given America enough fossil fuels to support all of America and Europe and make Putin a nobody. One of Trump’s greatest successes was the amazing oil and gas miracle, which charted us on a course to being within a few years of full energy independence. Biden reversed all of that. The only way to neutralize the fallout from Ukraine that most directly affects Americans – exacerbating already skyrocketing energy prices – is by unleashing the states to declare war on Biden’s war on energy production. 

The oil and natural gas boom created under Trump was allowing us to break Russia’s monopoly and stranglehold over Europe’s precarious dependency on energy imports. With revenue from oil and gas constituting roughly 40% of Russia’s budget, neutralizing that monopoly would have mitigated any emerging threat Russia poses in economic dominance. Almost 27% of all of Germany’s energy consumed is supplied by Russia, which is why leading European countries have been completely neutered.

During Trump’s first three years, his “drill, baby, drill” policies led to over a 40% increase in American crude oil production per day. With more drilling fields opening up, more refining capabilities in place, and the future of pipelines to efficiently deliver the oil, we were on our way to energy independence. Then came the inane COVID shutdown under Trump, and subsequently, Biden policies choking off any opportunity to grow from the lost momentum of the shutdown, which has led to our production stalling out:

Concomitantly, our unstoppable increase in exporting of crude oil has also stalled out under Biden’s policies:

As for natural gas production, levels increased by nearly a third before COVID, but have stalled out and have not recovered the momentum since. The Energy Information Agency originally predicted a 72% increase in production in 2020, which never materialized:

Yes, COVID was the original culprit. But that is the point. In many respects, the loss of freedom at home as a result of America following (or leading) the world’s failed response to COVID is largely what weakened our country, military deterrent, culture, and resolve and gave rise to Putin’s opportunity. Putin is the end result of corrupt, emasculated, and self-immolating Western governments and cultures. Which is why we need to focus on uprooting those policies and restoring democracy back home before we worry about Putin.

However, as it relates to Putin’s energy advantage, that is clearly the result of Biden declaring war on energy exploration and production even post-lockdown. In just one year, Biden has done the following:

• Terminated the Keystone pipeline from Canada.
• Suspended drilling in Alaska.
• Just three days ago, he placed a full moratorium on all new oil and gas drilling permits.
• Disallowing financing of coal-fired power plants. Meanwhile, China set another record producing more than 4 billion metric tons of coal last year, more than seven times our production level.
• Rather than getting out of the way of states like Texas, Oklahoma, and North Dakota producing real energy, Biden, with the help of some Republicans, funded $21 billion in green projects in the “infrastructure bill” he recently signed. Those funds will create more inveterate rent-seeking parasites in government, law, and lobbies to shut out real energy solutions.
• The Biden administration is considering shutting down the L5 pipeline, which carries oil and gas through Wisconsin and Michigan from Canada.

Is it any wonder why Putin felt he had the leverage to silence America and Europe while reclaiming the glory days of the Soviet Empire? Had Biden stepped on the gas pedal of energy production rather than applying the brakes, he could have deterred Russia with massive oil sanctions. Now he can’t do that because he made us all dependent on their oil.

Waiting for the federal government to properly deal with the energy crisis is like waiting for it to restore our liberties from COVID fascism. The solution is for red states to live up to their reputations and go it alone. Texas should work with states like Oklahoma, North Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming to grow an energy production empire around the immoral federal regulations. Why is it that the government can give Pfizer a free pass to produce poison and inject it in our bodies, but it regulates gas and oil production to death?

While a few states passed weak versions of this idea last term, they need a bill empowering the legislatures to declare any act of the federal government they deem unconstitutional in the following realms to be unenforceable in the states:

1. Pandemics or other health emergencies.
2. The regulation of natural resources, including coal and oil.
3. The regulation of the agriculture industry.
4. The use of land.
5. The regulation of the financial sector as it relates to environmental, social, or governance standards.
6. The regulation of the constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

The only way to leverage against authoritarians like Putin at this point is to push freedom in the states where we still can against our own authoritarians who have made us vulnerable to China, Russia, and other bad actors on the international stage. The fight against Putin begins at home.