President Joe Biden, in his second State of the Union address, went straight for the jugular of American energy independence and the Alaska economy. He proposed massive taxes on oil companies and blamed them for the energy crisis and for not producing enough oil. And he said the country is going to need oil for just about another decade as it converts to an all-electric future, with 500,000 charging stations being installed across America by the IBEW.
Biden’s comment came in the middle of his address but the end-of-oil remark was not included in the officially released version of his speech.
Biden described conversations he had had with oil companies executives. When he asked them why they are not reinvesting in their companies, Biden described them as responding that they are afraid he is going to shut down oil refineries anyway, “so why should we invest in them?”
“I tell them, we’re going to need oil for at least another decade.”
Republicans in the hall burst out in laughter, while Democrats jeered.
Biden, the leader of the Democratic Party, had just articulated the party’s platform of supporting the premature death of the energy-producing economy in America, which is responsible for the top three exports of oil, gasoline, and natural gas. He described no plan for providing the electricity for the hundreds of thousands of electric vehicles he said the government is investing in through tax credits. Nor did he say how America would get the minerals needed to build the electric vehicles.
At the same time, BP announced it is dialing back its earlier promises to cut carbon emissions by 35-40% over 10 years, saying the demand for oil is rising, and the company will only cut back 20-30% by the year 2030 so it can produce more oil and meet the global demand.
Rep. Mary Peltola tweeted throughout the speech, but said nothing in defense of Alaska oil projects like Willow or Pikka, which would take at least five years to bring to production. Willow alone is projected to produce about 600 million barrels of oil over 30 years.
Instead of standing up for Alaska’s economy, Peltola posted a tweet from the AFL-CIO about building the electric economy.
Biden also touched on his support for transgender rights for children and asked Congress to set in statute federal abortion rights. That was also supported by Peltola.
The speech was a sharp contrast to the practical and pro-active address given by U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan at the Alaska Legislature today, when he called on the president to approve the Willow and Pikka projects, open up resource development to the Ambler Mining District, and to quit punishing Alaskans by shutting down their economy.
