LETTER: Energy mistake gambles with Florida's economy
Everyone across Florida feels the punch of record inflation and sky-high energy prices, and there’s little end in sight. While pandemic disruptions played a role, actions taken in Washington since early 2021 helped inflame the problem.
What we continue to see from Washington may be gambling with our economy and perpetuating what is considered America’s greatest energy mistake. Their scattershot approach to reducing energy prices offers little tangible solutions.
Oil is the chief cost factor in the price of gasoline and diesel prices. The White House’s antagonistic approach toward our traditional energy sources upon taking office stifled energy development and production.
The president and other political leaders ignore the obvious solution: Unleash the U.S. oil and gas industry and make our country energy independent.
Florida and our nation need all the energy we can muster to lower prices right now. Down the road, that will mean more renewables like wind and solar, and, yes, more oil and gas that will remain the world’s dominant energy source in 2050 even as renewables gain prominence.
Americans across party lines favor that future. Two-thirds support moving toward carbon neutrality by 2050, according to the Pew Research Center, while nearly the same percentage believe we should use both traditional and renewable energy. Fortunately, the administration is restarting federal oil and gas leasing again in the Gulf of Mexico.
In 2022, why should we accept policy proposals that create more price volatility and less dependable, affordable and even more environmentally harmful energy? Voters should understand we can achieve our environmental goals with clean natural gas and oil, and that attempts to eliminate traditional energy actually harm our environment.
— Kevin Doyle, Consumer Energy Alliance, Tallahassee
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This article originally appeared on The News Herald: LETTER: Energy mistake gambles with Florida's economy
