Climate summit another example of Biden's America-last agenda

At the COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow, Scotland recently, President Joe Biden's America-last energy agenda was on full display.

When he wasn't falling asleep, President Biden was apologizing for President Trump's pro-American energy policies. In reality, the only people President Biden should be saying "sorry" to are our citizens paying higher energy bills and American oil and gas workers.

During last year's campaign, President Biden promised his far-left base that he would punish U.S. energy producers. For the past ten months, he has done everything in his power to make good on that pledge.

Since Day One, President Biden has been waging a relentless war on America's oil and gas industry. From cancelling the Keystone pipeline to cracking down on drilling permits, the Biden agenda has tried to end affordable energy prices and axe American jobs. The job-killing methane rule President Biden announced in Scotland is more proof he wants to put independent energy producers like those in my rural west Texas district out of business.

The results of President Biden surrendering America's energy independence are clear.

Americans are struggling to pay for skyrocketing gas prices that are up $1.30 a gallon and show no signs of slowing down. In some places a gallon of gas costs more than $4. And as we head into the winter months, families are staring down the possibility of paying upwards of 50% more to heat their homes.

President Biden isn't taking Americans' concerns about rising prices seriously. His Energy secretary laughs off questions about how to ease their pain. And instead of changing course, President Biden is doubling down on his anti-energy crusade. Almost inexplicably, he is now floating the idea of shutting down another major U.S. pipeline and another drilling ban, a move that would only further cut off supply and drive up heating costs even higher.

The real kicker isn't even that the president has been hostile to conventional sources of energy. The issue is how he has responded ever since he realized that rapidly rising gas prices were becoming a political liability.

Instead of helping U.S. oil and gas companies produce more here at home, President Biden started begging OPEC to pump more oil. Yes, this president wants Americans to buy oil from foreign, often unfriendly nations instead of our own.

President Biden's hypocrisy on energy is bad enough. Even worse is that his attacks on America's hardworking oil and gas producers are based on a lie.

In Congress, I am proud to represent the hardworking energy producers of the Permian Basin, the top oil and gas producing region in the country. I have seen firsthand how innovation from the private sector and industry leaders along with technological advancements have paved the way for the U.S. to become global leader in reducing carbon emissions.

In 2019, U.S. greenhouse gas emissions were 13% less than they were in 2005. In fact, no other country has cut their carbon footprint more during that time period. The shale revolution, in particular, has been critical in allowing us to achieve an affordable and reliable energy supply without the increases in emissions we've seen from major polluters like China and India.

But instead of building on that progress, President Biden is only interested in appeasing people like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and the rest of the socialist squad.

What President Biden and many of his fellow Democrats don't understand is that recognizing the real need for oil and gas doesn't conflict with incorporating other sources of energy. I support an all-of-the above energy approach. My West Texas district produces more wind energy than the entire state of California. There's no reason why we can't walk and chew gum at the same time.

In light of Democrats' attacks, I am proud to support the men and women who keep the lights on and America up and running. And myself and my Republican colleagues will continue to champion solutions that promote American energy, create good paying jobs, and maintain responsible environmental stewardship.

August Pfluger represents the 11th District of Texas.