The Biden administration suffered a loss in a Louisiana district court over a lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico, paving the way for potential oil and gas development and a chance at upping production at a time of spiking energy prices.
Judge James Cain of the Western District of Louisiana granted a preliminary injunction against a move by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), a federal agency that put some major, arbitrary restrictions on Lease Sale 261, which is scheduled to take place next week.
Among the restrictions were:
- Substantially decreasing the amount of blocks up for sale, as well as the area of land they covered.
- Forcing all oil and gas vessels to have specially trained visual observers on board at all times.
- Mandating all ships of any size to travel no quicker than 10 knots.
- Ordering vessels to only travel through the area in the daytime.
Judge Cain told the government that the plaintiffs in the case – the State of Louisiana, the American Petroleum Institute, and oil giants Chevron and Shell – had “demonstrated substantial potential costs resulting from the challenged provisions” and that “many of plaintiffs’ alleged hardships arise from the vessel restrictions.”
While the ruling is great for American energy production, it’s a drop in the bucket of concerns Americans have (or need to have) about what exactly the Biden administration has been doing to our energy independence.
When Donald Trump left office, America was a net exporter of energy. Our oil and gas production was up and running, and we were not so reliant on other nations providing it for us. With that also came greater development of renewable energy. Because production and profits were up for oil and gas, more could be invested in alternative sources.
But when Joe Biden came to power, his administration worked to cripple domestic production. We aren’t really using any less energy, but we are paying more for it because we are now a nation of net importation. We are reliant on outside forces to provide us with the oil and gas we need. The problem is that the oil and gas we need are coming from nations that have decided to cut oil production in order to raise prices.
This is a multi-faceted problem for the U.S. It’s an energy problem, an economic problem, and a foreign policy problem all wrapped up into one nice little gift basket.
The lease sale issue that the Biden administration just got spanked in court over was due to a voluntary settlement with environmentalist groups like the Sierra Club. That took precedence over American energy production and American economic interests. It took precedence over you and me, the people suffering from Biden’s energy policies.
The price of a barrel of oil has surged since June. The cost is up about 30 percent, and prices are nearing $100 per barrel thanks to voluntary production cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia. That shouldn’t be the case, as American production would be more than capable of making things easier. But Biden promised to put his foot on the throats of American oil and gas companies and he disincentivized production. We’re now reliant on Saudi Arabia and Russia.
Because of all this, refineries are warning of diesel shortages and looming price spikes. Diesel price hikes mean everything else goes up – especially food prices. This makes the inflation problem worse for Americans, and makes our economy worse in the long run.
You and I must pay more because Biden has done everything he can to make us pay more.
I am glad his administration lost on a court fight on a Gulf of Mexico lease sale. But that’s only the start of what needs to happen.
