Americans have suffered with sky-high energy prices throughout the Biden administration mostly due to President Biden’s irrational war on America’s fossil fuel industry. However, the good news is that in less than two months, Donald Trump will return the White House and make American energy affordable again.
Before we examine the policy measures that Trump will take to drastically reduce the price of gasoline and electricity, lets briefly recap how bad things have gotten under Biden.
According to a recent analysis by The Heartland Institute, Biden’s energy policies have directly costs U.S. households more than $2,500 since 2021. Under Biden, residential electricity prices have increased 23 percent, industrial electricity prices have increased 19 percent, home heating oil prices have increased 69 percent, oil prices have increased 52 percent, natural gas prices have increased 32 percent, and gasoline has increased $0.97 per gallon, or 42 percent.
The primary reason for the substantial spike in energy prices boils down to the law of supply and demand. Unlike Trump, Biden is a firm believer in climate alarmism. Therefore, he has taken drastic measures to reduce the extraction of natural gas and oil on federal lands. Moreover, he terminated construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline, has delayed permits for new drilling operations, and has approved a litany of new rules and regulations expressly intended to handicap fossil fuel production.
Unsurprisingly, Biden’s anti-fossil fuel posture has resulted in less production of affordable and abundant energy. Instead, Biden has gone all-in on the climate alarmist dream of net zero and embarked upon a government-forced, top-down green energy transition.
The problem with this strategy is simple: the green energy transition is not even close to being ready to replace coal, oil, and natural gas as the primary provider of energy for the United States.
As of now, green energy is at best a compliment to the fossil fuel sources that power our modern way of life. It’s possible that this will change in the future as new technologies emerge, but for now, it is absurd to believe that we can shun fossil fuels in place of so-called green energy.
President-elect Donald Trump understands that affordable and abundant energy is the lifeblood of the U.S. economy. Such is why he champions American energy dominance.
On the campaign trail, Trump pledged to “drill, baby, drill.” We should take him at his word, considering that he accomplished the unbelievable feat of turning the United States into a net oil exporter for the first time in 75 years during his first term.
According to Trump, “When I am back in the White House, I will bring back a pro-American energy policy at long last.”
Moreover, he promises to “help restore hope and aspiration to America's young people, instead of being irrationally terrified by political predictions of climate apocalypse. Instead of toiling, for low wages or left-wing make-work projects, I have a vision that will give young Americans a chance to find real meaning and work once again, like we had it two and a half years ago, building the backbone of America that is powerful, prosperous, productive, vigorous, modern, independent, and free.”
It is important to understand that energy policy has far-reaching consequences, well beyond the price of electricity, oil, or gasoline.
In our modern society, the price of energy impacts nearly all economic activity. When diesel fuel costs more, the shipping of products becomes more expensive, which leads to higher prices for all goods that have to be shipped. Likewise, when the grocery store’s electricity bill goes up nearly 20 percent, the price of groceries increases.
By unleashing the U.S. energy industry like Trump did during his first term, it is highly likely that the stubborn inflation that has afflicted the U.S. economy since Biden took office will subside.
All said and told, energy policy is crucial to the living standards of hardworking Americans as well as the U.S. economy as a whole. For four long years, Americans have agonized over the price of gasoline, electricity, home heating oil, etc. Fortunately, those days are numbered and Americans can soon expect to pay much less for these bare necessities.
In 1932, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s campaign theme song was “Happy Days Are Here Again,” which was intended to signal that FDR would return the United States to prosperity during the throes of the Great Depression. Perhaps Trump should borrow that tune during the first 100 days of his second term because it sure seems like happy days will be here again for all Americans who have struggled to make ends meet the past four years.
Chris Talgo (ctalgo@heartland.org) is editorial director at The Heartland Institute.
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