Columnist: Biden’s ban on new leases for drilling strikes ‘major blow’ to American energy independence

Throughout his presidency, Donald Trump was dogged by allegations that he was seeking to further the aims of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Now, Washington Examiner columnist Mike Palicz is making the same claims against his successor.

And while the assertions about Trump were never proven, Palicz argues that evidence that President Biden is giving “a gift to Russia” isn’t hard to find. In a Thursday article, the Examiner writer blasted the fracking ban recently sent down by Biden as “a major blow to energy independence” in America, and a major favor to the Kremlin and other OPEC members who want “to strengthen their positions in the global energy market.”

Biden’s drilling ban

Writing Thursday, Palicz took Biden to task over a recent executive order banning new development of federal property for the purposes of drilling.

While Biden’s latest action doesn’t completely bar fracking, it has faced criticism from conservatives like Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso (R), who says it’s a “de facto” ban on new development in the oil and gas industry.

“President Biden said he was going to unite the country, but he’s done one divisive thing after another. Since he left giving the inaugural address, he drove down Pennsylvania Avenue [and] pulled into White House, he threw all the unity talk out the window, basically pulled up his presidential pen and drew a big target on the back of American energy,” Barrasso told Fox News.

A million jobs lost?

Even if the president hasn’t gone so far as to prohibit drilling altogether, Palicz says the new order will force America to “become increasingly reliant on imported oil from Russia and the Middle East as American energy development stalls.”

“According to a recent study from the American Petroleum Institute, Biden’s action will cause net imports of crude oil to increase by 2 million barrels per day, directly increasing our reliance on foreign oil,” the Examiner columnist wrote.

“Additionally, expenditures on net imports of oil paid to foreign energy suppliers will rise to over $500 billion,” he reported. “The ban’s impact on the overall economy could cost nearly 1 million jobs by 2022.”

More virtue signaling

Palicz went on to suggest that the new rules amount to little more than virtue signaling, as they contain exemptions that will erode any potential declines in greenhouse gas emissions.

“The notion that Biden’s leasing ban is serious climate policy is further undercut by the administration’s excluding higher-emitting coal from the moratorium,” he argued. “The final executive order also provides a carve-out for tribal groups from the executive order, a provision included only after an oil-producing tribe in Utah last week asked the Interior Department for an exemption from the ban.”

It just goes to show that Democrats prioritize “political power over policy,” Palicz says, to the detriment of the American people.

“Biden is pummeling oil and gas sector workers. Doing so may win him points with the left flank of his party, but it comes at the high cost of energy independence,” the Examiner columnist concluded Thursday. “Putin and OPEC must be smiling.”

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