President Biden is leading America to record-breaking domestic oil production while making the world’s largest investment in clean energy.
Domestic oil production is at a record pace for 2023:
Here are the monthly totals for US oil production. *About a million barrels a day this year.* pic.twitter.com/gNHp7tRkr2
— Steven Dennis (@StevenTDennis) July 22, 2023
Trump and Republicans consistently falsely claim that the United States is not energy independent under President Biden, or that Biden has scaled back oil production. The chart above shows that oil production has grown under Biden, while at the same time the President has made historic investments in clean energy production.
Republicans have consistently framed the energy conversation in the United States as either/or. Or the US could produce more clean energy or fossil fuels.
The correct answer has always been that the US can do both. The reality is that the nation is not ready to give up fossil fuels, but clean energy production is the future.
If the US is independent of energy, why are gas prices so high?
The reason why gas prices are so high is that the oil that is being drilled in the United States does not belong to the United States. The oil actually belongs to the oil companies who put the oil on the open market to be sold around the world. The United States does not have its own oil company or government-run refineries. On federal grounds, drilling is rented to the oil companies that pay a lease fee and then get to keep what they find.
American oil does not belong to the United States, so when the Republicans propose to drill for more oil, they are actually advocating more profit for the oil companies.
Under Joe Biden, the United States is energy independent, setting oil production records and moving toward a clean energy future.
That’s the difference between having an energy policy instead of screaming drill baby drill while putting oil company dollars in your pockets.