July 4 celebrations in NJ are threatened by pain at the pump
The first weeks of summer are officially here, but with rampant inflation and high gas prices continuing to persist, many New Jersey residents’ plans for the Fourth of July may have been upended.
President Joe Biden has described inflation as his “top economic priority” but based on actions from his administration, that does not appear to be the case. The Consumer Price Index has hit a nearly 40-year high of 8.6% as Americans across the country are rearranging their budgets and scrambling to make ends meet.
And it seems that there is no end in sight.
In the latest attempt to stem the rising tide of inflation, the White House has set its sights on the American energy industry. With many oil and gas companies raking in profits at a time when energy demand has never been higher and production remaining low, they may seem like the perfect target. But there is much more than meets the eye when it comes to energy prices, and much of it can be traced to the actions of the Biden administration.
While high gas prices are hard-hitting for the average U.S. citizen and fueling the fire of inflation, Biden’s plan to lower gas prices will irreparably damage the U.S. oil industry and increase our reliance on volatile foreign oil at the expense of American consumers.
He has already announced that he is visiting Saudi Arabia later in July to discuss energy prices, an abrupt about-face from his earlier comments on the Middle Eastern oil giant, in which he labeled the nation a “pariah” for the sanctioned killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Relying on a bad actor such as this to help lower gas prices is not a good look and would only provide a temporary stopgap to our current energy crisis here at home. When we rely on foreign oil, there is little American politicians and lawmakers can do to control oil and gas prices.
Furthermore, at the same time, Biden and his allies have pushed for a windfall tax to be applied to America’s major oil and gas companies. This is not a new concept — the United States instituted a gas windfall tax in 1980 under President Jimmy Carter — but it only increased our dependence on foreign exports and decreased our domestic production levels.
In fact, a study from the Congressional Research Service found that the 1980 windfall tax reduced domestic oil production by up to 8%. Rehashing this old idea and applying a windfall tax would do nothing to solve the problem of high gas prices, and in fact, could exacerbate the issue even more.
Although the president and White House have called on American oil and gas companies to produce more to relieve prices, they conveniently gloss over the role that the administration has played in limiting production. From canceling and delaying new leases in Alaska and New Mexico to halting key pipeline infrastructure, the administration has made it clear that they are no friend of the oil and gas industry. Their actions have led to a sharp decrease in domestic production, which combined with the increased demand for energy, has resulted in the current crisis we are facing today.
I encourage the president and his allies to rethink their approach to American energy and lowering gas prices. There are no easy solutions to this crisis, but one of the most impactful would be the expanded production of American oil and gas. Not Saudi Arabia’s or Venezuela’s.
If we can produce more at home, we can begin to better meet demand, support our allies like Ukraine abroad, and ensure our energy is produced by adhering to some of the strongest environmental protections in the world.
That sounds like something worth celebrating this July 4.
Rosemary Becchi, a congressional candidate, is the founder and president of Jersey 1st, a Morristown-based nonprofit founded with the mission of being a voice for the hard working people of New Jersey
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ July 4 celebrations threatened by high gas prices
