‘Unleashing American Energy’
Although he has been in the Oval Office for only a few days, President Donald Trump is already making huge progress on his promise to make America energy dominant.
Just hours into his second term, Trump signed an executive order titled “Unleashing American Energy,” which will “unleash America’s affordable and reliable energy and natural resources.”
“America is blessed with an abundance of energy and natural resources that have historically powered our Nation’s economic prosperity,” the order states.
However, “In recent years, burdensome and ideologically motivated regulations have impeded the development of these resources, limited the generation of reliable and affordable electricity, reduced job creation, and inflicted high energy costs upon our citizens.”
Moreover, “These high energy costs devastate American consumers by driving up the cost of transportation, heating, utilities, farming, and manufacturing, while weakening our national security.”
In early 2023, the Heartland Institute released a report that found that American households, on average, paid more than $2,300 in additional energy expenses due to President Biden’s climate change policies. In fact, during the first three years of the Biden administration, “overall residential electricity prices increased by 17 percent; industrial electricity prices rose 34 percent; home heating oil prices increased by 88 percent; oil prices rose 61 percent; natural gas prices rose 51 percent; and the price of gasoline rose by $1.15 per gallon, or 46 percent.”
From day one, the Biden administration made it clear that it considered climate change an existential crisis. Hence, Biden issued a litany of regulations meant to stifle oil and gas production while simultaneously subsidizing so-called green energy projects and programs.
In other words, the spike in energy prices that occurred under Biden was not accidental; rather, it was by design.
Fortunately, the days of sky-high energy prices and green energy boondoggles have come to an end.
Unlike his predecessor, Trump understands that sound energy policy is key to prosperity and national security.
In fact, 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 activities. When diesel fuel costs more, shipping products becomes more expensive, which leads to higher prices for all goods that must be shipped. Likewise, when the grocery store’s electricity bill goes up nearly 20 percent, the price of groceries is probably going to increase accordingly.
By unleashing the U.S. energy industry like Trump did during his first term, it is highly likely the stubborn inflation that has afflicted the U.S. economy over the past few years will wane. It is also highly likely that Trump’s pro-energy posture will produce tens of thousands of lucrative jobs.
Like it or not, energy policy is crucial to the living standards of hardworking Americans as well as the U.S. economy as a whole.
Energy policy is also crucial to the future. If the United States is going to lead the world in the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing, it must have ready access to reliable baseload energy.
This means we must upgrade the national energy grid, which has been deteriorating for decades. If the United States is going to remain competitive in the global race for AI domination, we need to ensure that tech companies have access to reliable and affordable energy.
The only way to ensure that our grid is able to handle the huge surge in demand that is on the horizon is to expand upon the sources that can provide dependable power. To date, green energy simply cannot accomplish this fundamental task.
On the other hand, unleashing American energy will ensure that the United States has the wherewithal to remain the global leader in AI.
Chris Talgo (ctalgo@heartland.org) is editorial director at The Heartland Institute.
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