President Joe Biden is walking back all his tough talk on the Saudis in hopes the perfidious princes will pump more oil to alleviate the global crunch that has America suffering $5-a-gallon prices. But rather than grovel in Riyadh, he should take his foot off the neck of the US energy sector.
Biden vowed to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah state” back in 2019 for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s role in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. But now The New York Times reports he’s looking to travel over there and shake MBS’s hand as a thank-you for OPEC’s decision to expand oil production Thursday. (Biden denies the report.)
Yet the prez won’t drop his war on US energy production, even as surging prices are one reason inflation is at 8.3%.
To please his party’s green extremists, Biden on his first day in office canceled the Keystone XL pipeline (which would have transported 800,000 barrels of oil per day from Canada to the Gulf Coast). Then he put a moratorium on leasing federal lands to oil and gas drillers, increased restrictions on fracking and smiled on moves to choke off drillers’ access to capital.
America was a net energy exporter under the last president, and should still be. But Biden left us (and our allies) prey to the likes of MBS, Vladimir Putin and the tyrannies in Colombia and Iran — whose industries are all far dirtier than US producers.
Say no to groveling, Joe — and yes to drilling at home.