Larry Kudlow: Biden's war on fossil fuels has taken a 'mighty' toll on the US economy

It's bad enough that Joe Biden is once again looting the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which I'm now calling the Strategic Political Reserve. He’s doing this in order to cover up for his utter failure regarding all things energy and energy prices.  

The Biden Democratic war on fossil fuels has taken a mighty toll on this economy. In fact, one reason the inflation rate has soared from about 1% when he was elected to about 8-10% presently today, is skyrocketing energy prices that, combined — get this — are up 39% since February 2021, 39%. 

Now we’ve had some welcome relief in gasoline in some parts of the country. Gas prices at the pump, however, are still up 48%. Incidentally, the latest Rasmussen Reports poll shows that people are still furious at Biden for the higher gasoline prices at the pump, but there’s more. Electricity prices up 22%; motor fuel 49%; fuel oil 70%. 

So now, "Get Ready for the Big Chill." That’s the editorial headline in today's Wall Street Journal. Get this: Average U.S. household spending will increase for all heating fuels this winter, including natural gas, +28%, heating oil +27%, electricity +10%, and propane up 5%. All I can say is, "Brrrrr! It’s cold, in the winter. Imagine that!"

ENERGY EXPERTS SAY BIDEN PLAN TO REFILL OIL RESERVE COULD TAKE YEARS, WON'T FIX POLICY PROBLEMS

Now, I hope Americans wear plenty of sweaters, just like the days of Jimmy Carter. Now, here's Joe Biden today, announcing another 15 million barrels draw-down in the SPR, extending his prior sales, by the way. It’s supposed to end, even, by the way, telling us these SPR sales are going to continue through the winter. 

Well, that's terrific! We won't have to worry about some kind of wartime Saudi-OPEC oil embargo because Joe Biden will have embargoed American oil himself — and here's the really the pièce de résistance, phony, fraudulent, fix from Biden: In his presser, he says the problem is, wait for it, wait for it, I don’t want to jump too soon, folks, the problem is and I'm going to quote, "making sure there's enough oil that's being pumped by the companies." By the oil companies! Right? All this time, the last two years the oil companies have desperately not wanted to pump oil and gas. You remember that. Really? That’s not what they want to do. That’s not their business. Wrong! Which planet is Biden describing? 

Then he goes on to say, and I got to quote, "Now the problem is these guys are asleep." No, Joe, you’re the problem because you’re asleep and that continues to be the problem. You and your minions have done everything you can to close fossil fuel spigots. That is why all these energy prices have skyrocketed. That is a big reason why the economy is in such bad shape. 

In fact, hypocritically, you sometimes talk about bringing supply chains home to the U.S., it’s called onshoring, OK? But the only thing you won't onshore is American production of oil and gas. You'd rather pipe it in from Iran or Venezuela or Russia or OPEC+, right?  You have given the energy and national security power that America dominated to our enemies and our rivals overseas, so now they dominate. That is what you, Mr. President, have managed to do, in a lousy 18 or 20 months. 

We're producing today 11.8 million barrels a day. We should be at 14 million barrels per day — that's according to the Energy Information Agency that was put out a couple years ago, but we’re not there. We shouldn't be looting SPR. We should be producing and permitting and pipelining and refining and LNG exporting — which would not only create more and cheaper energy, it would be creating high-wage jobs for blue-collar working folks, wouldn’t it now?

But you don’t care about blue-collar working folks anymore, you’re only into the coastal elites and this crazy global warming stuff. No! You're actually standing up at a presser today and blaming oil companies. That is beyond stupid. It is beyond stupid. 

The one thing Joe Biden has done across the board, in only 18 or 20 months, is weaken this country — its energy weakness, its economic weakness, he’s damaged middle-class working folks, he’s damaged our national security. One thing after another under the radical, false-flag, unscientific gibberish about some immediate global warming existential risk, which does not exist and not even the U.N. climate panel agrees with him. That unfortunately fraudulent flag has done more to damage this country in less than two years than any president in the last four decades, at least. I’m going to give Jimmy Carter credit because at least in the last year or two he figured out Soviet communism was our enemy. Biden hadn’t figured anything out. 

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By the way, as an aside, my last point, the American Petroleum Institute, which is a responsible trade group in which members have a long history of helping America get through wars and tough times — really the finest energy industry in the world that produces the cleanest oil and gas in the world. 

The API weighed in today by saying that "The SPR was established to reduce the impact of severe supply disruptions, not as a long-term solution to the economic pain Americans are feeling at the pump. We urge the administration to recognize that short-term policymaking is no substitute for long-term strategies needed to encourage energy production." That’s a key phrase: energy production. Here. Onshoring. Thank heavens in this whole energy discussion there is at least one adult in the room, but that name ain't Biden, and that's why the cavalry is coming — big time. 

This article is adapted from Larry Kudlow's opening commentary on the October 19, 2022, edition of "Kudlow."