President Joe Biden's moves to authorize 45 million more barrels of oil to be released from the national reserve and to send letters to the nation's oil company CEOs demanding that more gas be produced are a "deflection" from his failed policy and that of the Democrats on energy, Rep. Guy Reschenthaler told Newsmax on Wednesday.
"Remember that Joe Biden, in the Democrat primary debates, was saying that he wanted to phase out hydrocarbons, meaning oil and natural gas," the Pennsylvania Republican said on Newsmax's "National Report." "It drove down capital investment into things like refinery project pipelines and so forth."
The issue was compounded when Biden took office and on his first day shut down construction on the Keystone XL pipeline and several other lines across the country, Reschenthaler said.
"Those stopped because there was a fear that permitting would not be accepted," he said. "So why put in the capital investment? So additionally, stopping leasing on federal lands, slowing down, and slow-walking permits, this was caused by Joe Biden."
Under former President Donald Trump, the United States was a net energy exporter, but with Biden, "we became reliant on foreign energy sources," Reschenthaler said. "It's absolutely unacceptable and to try to shift the blame on it to the private sector is a distraction and it's a deflection. The American people are too smart for that."
Reschenthaler also criticized Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, after they made recent comments touting their use of electric cars rather than vehicles fueled by gasoline.
"Marie Antoinette said, 'Let them eat cake.' Secretary Granholm is saying, 'Let them eat Prius,' " said Reschenthaler. "It's an elitist position that is totally tone-deaf with the American people. To afford a Tesla, for example, most people have to be making well over $100,000 a year to afford the Tesla.
"Also, you have to retrofit your house to get extra lines in the power of the electric vehicle. This may be an option if you're an affluent, woke yuppie. This is not an option if you're an average American, who is working for a living."
Reschenthaler also ridiculed Democrats for their concern for gas prices now, "because for years, actually dating back ot the days when I was in college, the Democrats were saying if gasoline was $4 or $5 a gallon we could help speed the transition off hydrocarbons. This has been their goal for 20 years."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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