Thank Democrats for High Energy Prices
The party spent a generation restricting fossil fuels, leaving the U.S. vulnerable to hostile powers like Iran.
Matthew Continetti, WSJ Free Expression
For Republicans, the numbers are grim. Gasoline prices rise and President Trump’s standing falls—along with the GOP’s chances this November.
The price hike is a consequence of Iran’s piratical closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Yet the irony is voter backlash to this supply shock benefits the Democrats—the very party that believes high prices for oil and gas are necessary to achieve the fabled “green energy transition.” The same party that’s spent the past generation promoting policies that restrict fossil fuels and leave the United States vulnerable to hostile powers.
At this writing, gas is at $4.55 per gallon, up 50% since Operation Epic Fury began on Feb. 28. The inverse relationship between gas prices and presidential job approval holds true. Since hostilities commenced, Mr. Trump’s approval rating has dropped to 40.5% from 43.5% in the RealClearPolitics polling average. Democrats, meanwhile, have widened their lead in the congressional generic ballot. Polymarket puts their chances of winning the House at 84% and Senate at 49%.
No wonder Republicans are skittish about the war. They have six months to turn around the electorate’s negative assessment of Mr. Trump and the economy—or, failing that, to convince the public that Democratic candidates are unacceptable alternatives to GOP rule. Republicans can’t predict or prevent global price shocks. But they can remind voters which party has spent decades making us vulnerable to them.
Not long ago, President Biden’s administration tried in vain to deflect criticism that its policies were responsible for rising gas prices. “Obviously, the president does not control the price of gasoline,” Biden administration Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said on Nov. 23, 2021. “No president does.”
Wherefore art thou now, Madam Secretary?
When Ms. Granholm spoke, gas averaged $3.39 per gallon. It hit an all-time high of $5 per gallon the following June. In response, Mr. Biden indulged in demagogic attacks on supposed price gouging. He pleaded with foreign producers to increase supply. He depleted the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to worrisome levels. Yet he also continued to enact laws and issue directives that privileged costly alternative energies at the expense of oil and gas exploration, development, production and export.
The autopen never wavered. The Keystone XL pipeline was canceled. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was closed to drilling. Regulations measuring the “social cost” of carbon were imposed. A moratorium on new oil and gas leases on public lands was issued. The U.S. re-entered the Paris Climate Agreement—subjecting domestic industry to stringent rules while allowing China, the world’s biggest polluter, to burn all the coal it desires.
Mr. Biden’s stringent fuel-economy standards were meant to push consumers into electric vehicles they were otherwise reluctant to buy. He halted permits for new liquified natural gas export facilities—at the precise moment Europe was desperate for non-Russian sources of energy. He showered green-energy companies with billions of dollars in subsidies. By constraining the oil, gas and mining sectors, and by favoring solar and wind and lithium-dependent batteries, Mr. Biden played into China’s technological strengths while denying America leverage over global energy markets.
Mr. Trump takes the opposite approach. Beginning in his first term, he embraced the shale and fracking revolutions in energy production. He adopted the “Drill, Baby, Drill” philosophy of unabashed development of U.S. natural resources. He approved pipelines and withdrew from the Paris Accord. Increased supply lowered costs, benefiting the economy. America grew stronger abroad as the U.S. became a net energy exporter in 2019.
Mr. Trump has followed the same path in his second term. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Energy Secretary Chris Wright are devoted to enhancing America’s status as an energy superpower. They’ve replaced the heavy hand of government with an aggressive push to develop natural resources, lower prices and advance U.S. interests.
Reviving nuclear power, for example, provides capacity for data centers, thus preserving America’s edge in AI competition with China. Drilling and mining reduce the leverage that Russia and Iran have in energy markets and that China has in rare-earth minerals. Plentiful, low-cost energy is the foundation of a strong economy that can generate the revenues to sustain American military superiority.
The war with Iran complicates matters, of course. That’s why it’s important that Mr. Trump finish the job and restore free passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Then the price at the pump will fall. Yet imagine how expensive gas prices would be today if President Obama’s and President Biden’s energy policies had been allowed to stand—if the nation had continued to give antidevelopment, antigrowth environmental protection groups veto power over the economy and consumer welfare.
For clues, turn to places where the ethos behind “Net Zero” and the Green New Deal has flourished. Look at California, where the price of gas is significantly higher than the national average. Examine Canada and Europe, whose economies have floundered and whose defenses have atrophied amid China’s rise.
The debate concerns more than a sudden price hike. It’s about the type of society we want to be and the future we want to shape. Start by rejecting the premise that environmental protection must come at Americans’ expense. Avoid the tragic error of voters burdened by high gas prices empowering those elements in society that wish to drive gas prices even higher—and leave the world a poor and dangerous place. Think energy costs are high now? Wait until the Democrats are back in charge.
Mr. Continetti is a Free Expression columnist at WSJ Opinion.
