Energy
8 ways the Biden / Harris government made gasoline prices higher
From Energy Talking Points
By Alex Epstein |
Any politician who supports the “net zero” agenda is working to make gasoline prices much higher
This is Part 1 of a 4 part feature where I cover 4 of the top energy issues being discussed this summer
- Every politician will claim this summer that they’re working to make gasoline prices lower, because they know that’s what voters want to hear.
But the many politicians that support “net zero by 2050” are working to make gasoline prices higher.
- For the US to become anywhere near “net zero by 2050,” gasoline use needs to be virtually eliminated.¹
- Since Americans left to their own free will choose to use a lot of gasoline, the only way for “net zero” politicians to eliminate gasoline is to make it unaffordable or illegal.
Low gasoline prices are totally incompatible with “net zero.”
- The Biden-Harris administration knows that all fossil fuels, including gasoline, need to be far more expensive for them to pursue “net zero.” That’s why the EPA set a rising “social cost of carbon” starting at $190/ton—the equivalent of adding $1.50 a gallon to gasoline prices!²
- From Day 1, President Biden has openly supported the destruction of the fossil fuel industry, from his 2019 campaign promise of “I guarantee you, we’re going to end fossil fuel” to his 2021 executive order declaring that America will be “net zero emissions economy-wide” by 2050.³
- Kamala Harris has, unfortunately, been even more supportive of the “net zero” agenda and therefore higher gasoline prices. In 2020 she supported a fracking ban, which would have destroyed 60% of US oil production. And she cosponsored the fossil fuel-destroying Green New Deal.⁴
- Of course, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, like all politicians, claim to be for lower gasoline prices. But because their real priority is the “net zero” agenda, in practice they are doing everything they can to raise prices.
-
Here are 8 specific actions they’ve taken.
- Biden Gas Gouging Policy #1
Biden has worked to increase gasoline prices by taking a “whole-of-government” approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions
. This entails reducing oil investment, production, refining, and transport, all of which serves to increase gas prices.⁵
- Biden Gas Gouging Policy #2
Biden has worked to increase gasoline prices by expanding the anti-fossil-fuel ESG divestment movement
. ESG contributed to a 50% decline in oil and gas exploration investments from 2011-2021, resulting in artificially higher prices. Biden is making it worse.The ESG movement is anti-energy, anti-development, and anti-America
·January 6, 2022ESG poses as a moral and financially savvy movement. In reality it is an immoral and financially ruinous movement that is destroying the free world’s ability to produce low-cost, reliable energy. This prevents poor countries from developing and threatens America’s security. Read full story - Biden Gas Gouging Policy #3
Biden has worked to increase gasoline prices via “climate disclosure rules,”
an oil and gas investment-slashing measure that coerces companies into spouting anti-fossil-fuel propaganda and committing to anti-fossil-fuel plans—plans that will raise gas prices.The “climate disclosure” fraud
·Mar 16Congress won’t support Biden’s anti-fossil-fuel agenda. Read full story
- Biden Gas Gouging Policy #4
Biden has worked to increase gasoline prices by issuing a moratorium on oil and gas leases on federal lands, stunting oil and gas production and investment
. When it’s harder to produce and invest in oil, gasoline gets more expensive.⁶
- Biden Gas Gouging Policy #5
Biden has worked to increase gasoline prices by hiking the royalty rate for new oil leases by 50%
. This is money the government gets from the industry on top of taxes. And it discourages oil investments, meaning less production meaning higher gas prices.⁷ - Biden Gas Gouging Policy #6
Biden has worked to increase gasoline prices by restricting oil and gas leasing on nearly 50% of Alaska’s vast petroleum reserve
. This is a crippling blow to Alaska’s oil and gas industry. Less Alaskan oil means higher gas prices.⁸ - Biden Gas Gouging Policy #7
Biden has worked to increase gasoline prices by threatening to stop oil and gas mergers
. Mergers, which increase efficiency, benefit domestic production and lower prices. Blocking mergers raises oil prices long-term, which means higher gas prices.Why government should leave oil and gas mergers alone
·Jun 3Myth: Oil and gas mergers are bad for America because they make oil more expensive. Read full story - Biden Gas Gouging Policy #8
Biden has worked to increase gasoline prices by cancelling the Keystone XL pipeline
. This prevented Canada from using its vast oil deposits to their full potential—meaning lower global supply and higher prices for oil and gasoline.⁹ - Joe Biden should level with the American people and make clear that his agenda is to increase gasoline prices—much like Obama’s infamous admission that “electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket” under his energy plan.
Or he should apologize and embrace energy freedom.¹⁰
“Energy Talking Points by Alex Epstein” is my free Substack newsletter designed to give as many people as possible access to concise, powerful, well-referenced talking points on the latest energy, environmental, and climate issues from a pro-human, pro-energy perspective.
Business
Premiers fight to lower gas taxes as Trudeau hikes pump costs
From the Canadian Taxpayers Federation
By Jay Goldberg
Thirty-nine hundred dollars – that’s how much the typical two-car Ontario family is spending on gas taxes at the pump this year.
You read that right. That’s not the overall fuel bill. That’s just taxes.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau keeps increasing your gas bill, while Premier Doug Ford is lowering it.
Ford’s latest gas tax cut extension is music to taxpayers’ ears. Ford’s 6.4 cent per litre gas tax cut, temporarily introduced in July 2022, is here to stay until at least next June.
Because of the cut, a two-car family has saved more than $1,000 so far. And that’s welcome news for Ontario taxpayers, because Trudeau is planning yet another carbon tax hike next April.
Trudeau has raised the overall tax burden at the pumps every April for the past five years. Next spring, he plans to raise gas taxes by another three cents per litre, bringing the overall gas tax burden for Ontarians to almost 60 cents per litre.
While Trudeau keeps hiking costs for taxpayers at the pumps, premiers of all stripes have been stepping up to the plate to blunt the impact of his punitive carbon tax.
Obviously, Ford has stepped up to the plate and has lowered gas taxes. But he’s not alone.
In Manitoba, NDP Premier Wab Kinew fully suspended the province’s 14 cent per litre gas tax for a year. And in Newfoundland, Liberal Premier Andrew Furey cut the gas tax by 8.05 cents per litre for nearly two-and-a-half years.
It’s a tale of two approaches: the Trudeau government keeps making life more expensive at the pumps, while premiers of all stripes are fighting to get costs down.
Families still have to get to work, get the kids to school and make it to hockey practice. And they can’t afford increasingly high gas taxes. Common sense premiers seem to get it, while Ottawa has its head in the clouds.
When Ford announced his gas tax cut extension, he took aim at the Liberal carbon tax mandated by the Trudeau government in Ottawa.
Ford noted the carbon tax is set to rise to 20.9 cents per litre next April, “bumping up the cost of everything once again and it’s absolutely ridiculous.”
“Our government will always fight against it,” Ford said.
But there’s some good news for taxpayers: reprieve may be on the horizon.
Federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre’s promises to axe the carbon tax as soon as he takes office.
With a federal election scheduled for next fall, the federal carbon tax’s days may very well be numbered.
Scrapping the carbon tax would make a huge difference in the lives of everyday Canadians.
Right now, the carbon tax costs 17.6 cents per litre. For a family filling up two cars once a week, that’s nearly $24 a week in carbon taxes at the pump.
Scrapping the carbon tax could save families more than $1,200 a year at the pumps. Plus, there would be savings on the cost of home heating, food, and virtually everything else.
While the Trudeau government likes to argue that the carbon tax rebates make up for all these additional costs, the Parliamentary Budget Officer says it’s not so.
The PBO has shown that the typical Ontario family will lose nearly $400 this year due to the carbon tax, even after the rebates.
That’s why premiers like Ford, Kinew and Furey have stepped up to the plate.
Canadians pay far too much at the pumps in taxes. While Trudeau hikes the carbon tax year after year, provincial leaders like Ford are keeping costs down and delivering meaningful relief for struggling families.
Economy
Gas prices plummet in BC thanks to TMX pipeline expansion
From Resource Works
By more than doubling capacity and cutting down the costs, the benefits of the TMX expansion are keeping more money in consumer pockets.
Just months after the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) project was completed last year, Canadians, especially British Columbians, are experiencing the benefits promised by this once-maligned but invaluable piece of infrastructure. As prices fall when people gas up their cars, the effects are evident for all to see.
This drop in gasoline prices is a welcome new reality for consumers across B.C. and a long-overdue relief given the painful inflation of the past few years.
TMX has helped broaden Canadian oil’s access to world markets like never before, improve supply chains, and boost regional fuel supplies—all of which are helping keep money in the pockets of the middle class.
When TMX was approaching the finish line after the new year, it was praised for promising to ease long-standing capacity issues and help eliminate less efficient, pricier methods of shipping oil. By mid-May, TMX was completed and in full swing, with early data suggesting that gas prices in Vancouver were slackening compared to other cities in Canada.
Kent Fellows, an assistant professor of Economics and the Director of Graduate Programs for the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary, noted that wholesale prices in Vancouver fell by roughly 28 cents per litre compared to the typically lower prices in Edmonton, thanks to the expanded capacity of TMX. Consequently, the actual price at the gas pump in the Lower Mainland fell too, providing relief to a part of Canada that traditionally suffers from high fuel costs.
In large part due to limited pipeline capacity, Vancouver’s gas prices have been higher than the rest of the country. From at least 2008 to this year, TMX’s capacity was unable to accommodate demand, leading to the generational issue of “apportionment,” which meant rationing pipeline space to manage excess demand.
Under the apportionment regime, customers received less fuel than they requested, which increased costs. With the expansion of TMX now complete, the pipeline’s capacity has more than doubled from 350,000 barrels per day to 890,000, effectively neutralizing the apportionment problem for now.
Since May, TMX has operated at 80 percent capacity, with no apportionment affecting customers or consumers.
Before the TMX expansion was completed, a litre of gas in Vancouver cost 45 cents more than a litre in Edmonton. By August, it was just 17 cents—a remarkable drop that underscores why it’s crucial to expand B.C.’s capacity to move energy sources like oil without the need for costly alternatives, allowing consumers to enjoy savings at the pump.
More than doubling TMX’s capacity has rapidly reshaped B.C.’s energy landscape. Despite tensions in the Middle East, per-litre gas prices in Vancouver have fallen from about $2.30 per litre to $1.54 this month. Even when there was a slight disruption in October, the price only rose to about $1.80, far below its earlier peaks.
As Kent Fellows noted, the only real change during this entire timeline has been the completion of the TMX expansion, and the benefits extend far beyond the province’s shores.
With TMX moving over 500,000 barrels more per day than it did previously, Canadian oil is now far more plentiful on the international market. Tankers routinely depart Burrard Inlet loaded with oil bound for destinations in South Korea and Japan.
In this uncertain world, where oil markets remain volatile, TMX serves as a stabilizing force for both Canada and the world. People in B.C. can rest easier with TMX acting as a barrier against sharp shifts in supply and demand.
For critics who argue that the $31 billion invested in the project is short-sighted, the benefits for everyday people are becoming increasingly evident in a province where families have endured high gas prices for years.
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