I like fossil fuels. I like that everything from coal to clean natural gas has raised most of humanity out of abject misery in my lifetime. I like that parts of the world that seemed to have nothing to offer only had to look down to find a gift that has blessed us all. I’m glad that some form of the dinosaurs continues to roam the earth if only as a part of the car I drive around. And I’m glad that we can grow our food, cook our meals, drink clean water, heat our homes, have satisfying careers, and raise our children in relative comfort compared to my great-grandparents’ generation.

Thank you, Oil Companies. All of us depend every day on what you have done and continue to do. It must be a staggering shock to be told—in the face of all evidence to the contrary—that your services will no longer be required in a few years. Everyone knows it’s a lie, but a hurtful one. Especially coming from some of the most listened-to voices at the highest levels of our government.

Image: Cargo cranes (cropped) by wirestock.

The current administration has done everything in its power to cripple the energy industry. Its lockdowns and mandates have disrupted and raised the cost of every economic activity in the country. It failed to prevent the war in Ukraine before it started, thus damaging not just us but most countries on earth. And the inflation from printing and planning to spend trillions for which there is no quick source for payback is becoming too much for the average American family to bear!

At a time of increasing costs of labor, mostly due to governmental meddling, President Biden blames oil companies for high prices at the pump. Now, he’s over in the Kingdom being told that no, sorry, they’ve about maxed out their production capacity. Well, oil industry analysts were saying that months ago. But this administration hasn’t grown ears yet. It bumbles along, inking policies based on outdated or fantastical information. Those regarding the energy sector are nothing short of disastrous. And still, Biden persists in increasingly limiting production here at home, where refining is a relatively clean activity and transport to consumers is quick.

Nevertheless, the President has thrown down the gauntlet. He’s demanding an increase in refined product at a lower cost than current production and marketing allow. He wants what the country had a couple of years ago, under a different sort of administration. So, the Oil Companies should give it to him. Here’s one low-cost way to make it happen.

They can throw those “refinery profits well above margin” behind mid-term candidates whom the leader of that previous administration supports. They can immediately and hugely support political action committees preparing to return governance to reasonable Americans in 2024, not those with utopian dreams and no plans for how to get there. They can exercise their legal and financial muscles to assist with the investigations and audits of fraudulent 2020 state election activities and put their vast resources into empowering local and state elections that will bring about a return to the rule of law.

While this might not be enoug to effect a change in governance before 2025, the late 2024 election should guarantee the energy sector the confidence and freedom it requires to move forward. When We the People speak, and our honest voice is heard, we will choose a vibrant energy sector over costly, wasteful, and ineffective remedies to a climate problem that does not exist, every single time. C’mon Oil Companies, you got this.

Anony Mee is the nom de blog of a retired public servant.

Photo credit: Bill Kasman CC BY-SA 2.0 license