Why would Big Oil blame Biden for gas prices? (Hint: to stop climate progress.) | Fix

<h1>Why would Big Oil blame Biden for gas prices? (Hint: to stop climate progress.)</h1>
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<p class="ff-default"><em>Robert Weissman is president of <a href="https://www.citizen.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Public Citizen</a>.</em></p>

<p class="has-drop-cap ff-default">As gas prices <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/04/gas-prices-climb-to-highest-level-in-more-than-7-years-as-oil-surges-above-90.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">continue to rise</a>, Big Oil wants you to blame Joe Biden.</p>

<p class="ff-default">Opining on Fox Business Network, energy industry analyst Phil Flynn <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/gas-prices-jump-in-keystone-pipeline-cancellation-fallout" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">claimed</a> the Biden administration is “using cancel culture policies against the U.S. energy industry” and starving the market of domestic petroleum production. Other conservative commentators are <a href="https://nypost.com/2021/12/05/the-costs-of-bidens-war-on-oil-include-higher-gas-prices/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">attacking</a> the Biden administration’s supposed “war on oil.”</p>

<p class="ff-default">The industry’s biggest lobbying arm, the American Petroleum Institute, is doing its best to tie the price of gasoline to <a href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/API-president-blames-Biden-for-decline-in-oil-16682230.php" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Biden administration policies</a> that aim to mitigate climate change. Large gas and oil producers were behind a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/05/climate/oil-facebook-ads-biden.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">social media marketing campaign</a> last fall promoting fossil fuels, while <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@londynsmommy1124/video/7021129026911669510?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">conservative TikTok users</a> encouraged each other to <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2022/01/18/1073053108/the-movement-to-stick-inflation-blame-on-biden" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">place stickers on gas pumps</a> with Biden pointing to the price per gallon and saying, “I did that.”  </p>

<p class="ff-default">This is a highly <a href="https://www.citizen.org/article/lies-big-oil-told-me/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">misleading</a> narrative propagated by an industry scrambling to draw attention away from its record profits while capitalizing on inflation fears in an attempt to derail the essential transition to clean, affordable renewable energy.  </p>

<p class="ff-default">The main reason the cost of gasoline rises — or falls — is the price of crude oil on global markets. At the outset of the pandemic in spring 2020, prices for crude at one point plunged <a href="https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=43495" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">below zero dollars</a>. By last summer, they rose as the economy rebounded. Then they sank amid fears of omicron. Now they are back up again, having this month reached a price per barrel that <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/03/us-oil-prices-top-90-a-barrel-for-the-first-time-since-2014.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hasn’t been seen since 2014</a>. You get the picture.  </p>

<p class="ff-default">During the past two weeks, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/01/exxon-xom-earnings-q4-2021.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Exxon</a>, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/03/shell-earnings-q4-2021.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Shell</a>, and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/28/business/energy-environment/chevron-earnings-4q-2021.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Chevron</a> posted sharp upturns in quarterly earnings, thanks to the rebound in global demand for oil; BP just reported its <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/08/bp-earnings-q4-2021.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">highest profits in eight years</a>. Steep prices at the pump — and these sky-high earnings — are the result of high demand and an improving economy.</p>

<p class="ff-default">The disingenuous push by the oil and gas companies and their <a href="https://www.citizen.org/article/big-oils-capitol-hill-allies/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">right-wing allies</a> to blame President Biden is part and parcel of a longstanding, evidence-free oil industry PR strategy that dates to at least 2012, when API Director Erik Milto said, “Gasoline prices are higher today at least in part because government has neglected to pay sufficient attention to the importance of producing more of our own oil and natural gas.” </p>

<p class="ff-default">Although energy experts and economists agree that the rise in energy prices since last summer has stemmed from a surprising and rapid economic recovery, and despite fact-checks from media outlets including <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/02/18/fact-check-oil-prices-havent-doubled-during-biden-presidency/6798510002/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">USA Today</a>, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/07/13/bogus-gop-claim-that-biden-is-responsible-higher-gasoline-prices/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Washington Post</a>, and <a href="https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/dec/01/facebook-posts/no-evidence-biden-canceling-oil-pipeline-caused-hi/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">PolitiFact</a>, industry executives persist in telling <a href="https://www.citizen.org/article/lies-big-oil-told-me/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">lie after lie</a> about what’s happening.  </p>

<p class="ff-default">API CEO Mike Sommers <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/biden-policies-key-factor-surging-energy-american-petroleum-institute-president" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">blamed</a> rising costs on Biden’s decisions to deny a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, pause new oil and gas leases, and <a href="https://grist.org/beacon/halaand-pauses-arctic-drilling/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">suspend drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge</a> in Alaska.  </p>

<p class="ff-default">This is another industry talking point: that Biden’s policies are cutting back drilling. In fact, Biden has <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/12/06/biden-is-approving-more-oil-gas-drilling-permits-public-lands-than-trump-analysis-finds/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">approved more drilling permits</a> on public land than Trump did in his first three years as president. In December, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm even <a href="https://www.energyintel.com/0000017d-ba76-db91-a5fd-ff7ff0ce0001" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">urged</a> oil drillers to produce more fossil fuels. “Please, take advantage of the leases that you have,” Granholm said. “Hire workers. Get your rig count up.” Meanwhile, U.S. oil production is <a href="https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">projected</a> to reach a record average of 12.6 million barrels per day by 2023, up from <a href="https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/production/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">11.8 million</a> in November 2021. </p>

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    <span class="in-article-recirc__label">Read more on oil and gas leases</span>
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          <img src="https://grist.org/fix/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/03/alaska-pipeline-e1616709066738.jpeg?quality=75&strip=all" alt="Trans-Alaska Pipeline"  class="js-modal-gallery__hidden" srcset="https://grist.org/fix/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/03/alaska-pipeline-e1616709066738.jpeg?quality=75&strip=all 1600w, https://grist.org/fix/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/03/alaska-pipeline-e1616709066738.jpeg?resize=300%2C199&quality=75&strip=all 300w, https://grist.org/fix/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/03/alaska-pipeline-e1616709066738.jpeg?resize=768%2C510&quality=75&strip=all 768w, https://grist.org/fix/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/03/alaska-pipeline-e1616709066738.jpeg?resize=1024%2C680&quality=75&strip=all 1024w, https://grist.org/fix/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/03/alaska-pipeline-e1616709066738.jpeg?resize=1536%2C1020&quality=75&strip=all 1536w, https://grist.org/fix/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/03/alaska-pipeline-e1616709066738.jpeg?resize=150%2C100&quality=75&strip=all 150w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" height="1063" width="1600" loading="lazy" decoding="async">
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                    <a class="in-article-recirc__title-link" href="https://grist.org/fix/opinion/protect-federal-lands-conservationists-oil-extractors/">To protect federal lands, the burden of proof is on conservationists. It should be on extractors.</a>
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                            <a class="byline-link" href=https://grist.org/fix/author/alexander-lee/>Alexander Lee</a>,      <a class="byline-link" href=https://grist.org/fix/author/benjamin-hale/>Benjamin Hale</a>, &       <a class="byline-link" href=https://grist.org/fix/author/alex-hamilton/>Alex Hamilton</a>              </div>
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<p class="ff-default">Permitting more drilling and more pipelines won’t lower the price of gas today. If Biden had allowed the Keystone XL pipeline, for example, the cost of filling your car might even have <a href="https://www.citizen.org/wp-content/uploads/keystone_report_4.15.2013_1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">increased</a>, because Keystone was intended to promote gasoline exports. Crude oil is a commodity traded on international markets, and prices are influenced by global supply and demand. </p>

<p class="ff-default">Republicans and the oil industry are using consumers’ pain at the pump to weaken support for the transition to clean energy. With characteristic over-the-top hyperbole, <a href="https://republicans-oversight.house.gov/release/western-caucus-oversight-republicans-to-host-joint-forum-on-rising-energy-prices/#:~:text=Democrats%20continue%20to,families%20and%20workers.%E2%80%9D%C2%A0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Representative James Comer</a> of Kentucky claimed that “Democrats continue to prioritize progressive and expensive environmental dreams while Americans are facing an energy crisis nightmare.” Washington Representative Dan Newhouse <a href="https://republicans-oversight.house.gov/release/western-caucus-oversight-republicans-to-host-joint-forum-on-rising-energy-prices/#:~:text=The%20Biden%20Administration's%20failed%20energy,and%20low%20income%20households%20the" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">asserted</a> that the Biden administration’s policies “have caused prices to shoot through the roof, and his plans to haphazardly cut out traditional energy sources and make America completely reliant on intermittent renewable resources will keep those prices rising.”</p>

<p class="ff-default">These same Republican leaders fail to acknowledge how the industry is profiting from the rapid economic turnaround. Exxon and BP <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/dec/06/oil-companies-profits-exxon-chevron-shell-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">both credited</a> rising fuel costs with helping pad their bottom lines — and the top two dozen oil giants raked in $174 billion in profits for the first nine months of 2021. Oil companies will reap even more if crude prices soar over $100 per barrel, as many observers <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-case-for-100-oil-more-driving-less-drilling-11643247290" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">expect</a>.</p>

<p class="ff-default">Extraordinary profits and deceptive spin are just more of the same from an industry that has for decades minimized the role of fossil fuels in heating the planet. It’s the same industry that now ignores the reality that transitioning to cleaner energy is realistic and within our grasp: Sales of electric vehicles have <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/press-releases/2021-12-15/global-ev-sales-on-track-to-hit-record-6-3-million-in-2021-bnef#:~:text=Europe%20hits%20record%20level%20of,adoption%20so%20far%20on%20record." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">shot up</a> in recent years, driven by high demand in <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/electric-vehicles-drive-growth-for-china-car-sales-11641899387" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">China</a> and Europe <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/08/business/energy-environment/electric-cars-vehicles.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">and most recently in the U.S</a>. At the same time, the cost of wind and solar power has dropped significantly and is now <a href="https://www.lazard.com/media/451905/lazards-levelized-cost-of-energy-version-150-vf.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">competitive</a> with natural gas and far less expensive than coal or nuclear power.</p>

<p class="ff-default">These moves will hurt Big Oil companies tethered to a fossil fuel future, but they will save money for consumers — not to mention save the planet from a climate crisis threatening our very survival.  </p>

<p class="ff-default"><em>The views expressed here reflect those of the author. </em></p>

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<p>This article originally appeared in <a href="https://grist.org/">Grist</a> at <a href="https://grist.org/fix/opinion/big-oil-blame-biden-rising-gas-prices-stop-climate-progress/">https://grist.org/fix/opinion/big-oil-blame-biden-rising-gas-prices-stop-climate-progress/</a>.</p>
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