President Joe Biden on Sunday was confronted by a woman at a New York event who criticized him for allowing continued drilling for oil on federal lands. The president’s response was both unscripted and telling.
Biden shot back that “there is no more drilling. I haven’t formed any new drilling.”
He had finished his remarks in support of incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul when he responded to the woman holding a sign that said, “5 more years of drilling is a lose lose.” After his rebuttal, the protester yelled back at the president about offshore leases.
There has, in fact, been new drilling on federal property in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico during his stay in the White House.
BREAKING: Two days before the midterm elections, Joe Biden clearly states he is for "no more [oil] drilling." pic.twitter.com/2F9hZNOwMt
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) November 7, 2022
Biden responded that those projects were enacted before he was president and that “we’re trying to work on that to get that done. Thank you.”
His answer showed a level of playing with words and dishonesty that is startling. On Oct. 31, Biden attacked “big oil” with accusations of war-time profiteering and, even better, threatened new windfall profits taxes if companies do not speed up drilling new wells.
Further, the Biden administration has in fact approved new drilling for oil and gas on federal lands and waters. When pressed, it patted itself on the back for new permits issued to energy companies.
In fact, there was a recent claim from the administration that the federal government has issued 9,000 new drilling permits in less than two years under the current president.
These boasts by the White House, of course, depend on the audience being addressed. Is it any wonder that energy companies do not know what to believe from this president?
Just Saturday, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) took him to task for his hostility towards the coal industry. The moderate Democrat declared that his attacks “are the reason the American people are losing trust in President Biden.”
Manchin added, “It seems his positions change daily depending on the audience and politics of the day.”
And that, to summarize, is the energy platform of the Biden administration. Play to voters with legitimate concerns over soaring energy costs when it suits, then pander to environmental extremists when it doesn’t.
