“You are left with a coordinated undermining of the capabilities of the world’s leading oil-and-natural-gas producing nation,” he said. “Even in the best of times, this would have been a challenging moment. But mix in a post-pandemic surge in demand, and a war in Europe, and you get a global energy crisis.”
The comments come in the wake of a year in which nations around the world suffered under some of the highest oil and natural gas prices in years, following an economic surge coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
At the same time the Biden administration has sought to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by expanding incentives for wind and solar energy and electric vehicles, as well as limiting new oil and gas drilling on federal lands and waters.
“As President, I have a responsibility to act with urgency and resolve when our nation faces clear and present danger” Biden said in July. “That’s what climate change is about. It is literally, not figuratively, a clear and present danger.”
With Republicans taking control of the House earlier this month, the nation’s largest oil lobbying group is looking to cut a deal with Democrats to increase oil and gas drilling on federal lands and speed up the federal permitting process for large energy projects like LNG terminals and natural gas pipelines – a policy goal shared by clean energy groups.
Sommers pitched those policies as necessary to bolster the world’s energy supply, arguing efforts to shift the nation’s energy sector entirely to clean energy posed a risk to national security.
“The objective is to get more energy with fewer emissions, but pretending that we can simply replace oil and natural gas with wind or solar does a disservice to Americans and our allies,” he said. “We’re ready to do the work, put in the time with this administration and this new congress to craft bipartisan solutions.”
