The obfuscation of the true cause of gas prices from the current administration makes no sense from any benign point of view. Despite these efforts--which range wildly from blaming Vladimir Putin to holding congressional hearings grilling industry CEOs--no sensible, attentive American is fooled by this nonsense.
The lies in this press conference clip, alone, are far too complex to unpack here, so let’s address just one today.
Jen Psaki states (paraphrased) that if we do more to invest in clean energy, rising fuel prices will no longer be a threat in the future. Some people call these kinds of ideas magical thinking.
The go-to talking point of needing to abandon fossil fuels in favor of a future powered by alternative energy is a non-starter. Without the continued investment and interest of a healthy fossil fuel industry, green energy is dead in the water.
The reality is, if you castrate our current energy industry, there won’t be any resources available to develop the next. The federal government cannot afford to make such an investment. Nor have they made any legitimate effort to do so.
This is especially true when you consider that, after revenue from personal income tax, oil and gas royalties on productive federal leases are the next largest source of federal revenue. The current proposal to open federal leases again while increasing the fees and royalties due the Fed will bankrupt both the energy sector as well as the American taxpayer via the federal deficit.
The idea of bankrupting the oil companies in order to force the country into alternative solutions is short-sighted and completely devoid of common sense. Without a working infrastructure in place for delivery, renewables are useless.
The only way to smooth the transition to the future both financially and environmentally, is to get the federal government out of the way of the energy industry.
The previous administration was undeniably effective in managing American energy interests. By reducing the superfluous bureaucracy imposed on the energy sector, gas prices were great, and the country was energy independent.
The current administration reversed it all in less than a week. This back and forth between controlling interests in D.C. is holding us all back, both as individuals and as a nation of states.
It sounds hopeless, but we can get past this and the innumerable other instances of excessive federal overreach which is holding back American greatness. A Convention of States, as described in Article V of the Constitution, is the only viable solution to this problem.
Amendments constraining the federal government’s increasing overreach and mismanagement of our hard-earned money, proposed by 34 state legislatures and approved by 38 in such a convention, would nullify the ability of the federal government to play dice with our most important industry.
We are over halfway there. Nineteen state legislatures have already certified their participation.
Join the movement by signing the petition below!
Ann Lilly is a State Content Writer for Convention of States New Mexico.
