U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) announced he will introduce the American Energy Independence Act of 2022, which will reverse President Biden’s shutdown of the American energy sector and return American energy to full production.
Immediately following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the price of oil rose to over $100 per barrel for the first time since 2014. Gas and energy prices for working Americans are quickly rising to new highs. At the same time, European countries, particularly Germany, have been reluctant to levy tough sanctions on Russia or help arm Ukraine due to dependence on Russian energy. The Biden Administration itself has been reluctant to sanction the Russian energy sector, due no doubt to the United States’ own dangerous dependence on foreign energy.
“The Biden Administration’s energy priorities are completely backwards and now working Americans are paying the price,” said Senator Hawley. “The United States cannot afford to be energy dependent on our enemies. We must reopen domestic energy production full throttle, restore our energy independence, and reverse this policy of American energy surrender.”
Shortly after coming into office, President Biden cancelled the Keystone XL Pipeline, blocked new oil and gas leases, issued regulations designed to stymie domestic energy investment, and advocated for measures that focus more on Green New Deal priorities than on American security.
The American Energy Independence Act of 2022 will:
- Assert that it is the official policy of the United States to achieve full energy independence and low energy costs for its citizens in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
- Instruct federal agencies to identify and rescind existing regulations that have the effect of reducing American energy independence, bars new rules that reduce energy security or raise energy prices, and directs agencies to work to achieve energy independence by 2024.
- Ease the regulatory burden on energy companies engaged in fracking.
- Restore the permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline after its cancellation by the Biden Administration and eases the process for constructing new pipelines.
- Defund the United States’ contributions to any provisions of the Paris Climate Agreement.
- Rescind the Biden Administration’s moratorium on oil and natural gas leases on public lands.
- Lower the “social cost of carbon” to $0 per ton to focus government standards on boosting domestic energy production, rather than climate change.