Drill Baby, Drill

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For the better part of the past decade, my media outlet’s position on energy issues has been remarkably simple – and steadfast. Ready? I support whatever keeps the lights on – and our motors purring – at the lowest possible cost to consumers.

We should strive for maximum efficiency and transparency in our grid, avoiding needless price hikes and self-inflicted supply shortages. And while transitioning to renewables is certainly in keeping with good stewardship, there should be absolutely no government subsidization of this push.

Especially when carbon-free alternatives like nuclear are available …

This “all of the above” consumer-first philosophy has rubbed a lot of people the wrong way – especially as it relates to my ongoing support for offshore drilling.

“It would materially improve people’s lives and livelihoods – and do so at a minimum of environmental risk,” I noted in a piece several years ago embracing the idea.

In addition to offshore drilling, I have also consistently championed the use of natural gas, which has been the real hero in reducing carbon emissions in the United States in recent years. Unfortunately, eco-radicals keep blocking the construction of natural gas pipelines – making it harder to connect these power sources to the grid.

In the ongoing battle against these eco-radicals – a group which includes U.S. president Joe Biden and broad swaths of the bureaucratic state – congressman Jeff Duncan of South Carolina has been a key player. Duncan scored a big victory earlier this year with respect to the Mountain Valley Pipeline – a 303-mile natural gas artery that would pump natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica shale fields to the southeast.

Fast-tracking that pipeline was a significant energy win … but America’s power grid needs a lot more wins. And fast.

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Not surprisingly, Duncan has been making plenty of noise on this issue in the aftermath of the escalating crisis in the Middle East.

“America needs to utilize our vast natural resources by approving offshore drilling and re-opening drilling in the National Petroleum Reserve,” Duncan wrote this week on X. “Just like the Energy and Commerce committee is doing for countless energy resources, we must streamline permitting and ensure it is predictable. I am proud of the work my committee is doing … to combat Joe Biden’s attempt to pick and choose winners in the energy industry. As America becomes energy independent and utilizes our vast natural resources, we become a competitor in the global market and can export oil to our allies. This allows them to cease their dependence on China and Russia while also forcing the price of oil to decline due to competition in the marketplace.”

Duncan also wrote earlier this week that he had been “sounding the alarm” about Biden draining America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) “at the expense of our energy security to cover up his failed energy policies.”

The SPR is down to 351 million barrels – equal to approximately two months of imports. That’s well below its peak of 727 million barrels under former president Barack Obama. Private companies totaled reserves of 424 million barrels as of earlier this month.

The reserve fund stood at 638 million barrels when Biden took office – meaning he has blown through nearly 45 percent of it in just two-and-a-half years.

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“This reckless, unsustainable decision-making leaves America vulnerable and incapable to assist our allies in the event of a natural disaster, national emergency, or international crisis,” Duncan wrote. “Hamas wages war on Israel, and the cost of oil immediately increased by around four percent. America and our allies are dependent on the Middle East for oil because Joe Biden wants ‘to stop all drilling.’”

Say what you will about Duncan – and this media outlet has said a few things about him of late – but he is categorically correct on these issues. All of them. The streamlined permitting. The petroleum reserve depletion. And the offshore drilling.

As I noted earlier this year, thanks to climate “science,” the federal government is forcing investor-owned utilities, RTOs and other power providers to dramatically scale back conventional generation in favor of renewables – even though it is painfully clear these new energy sources are not bridging the gap in capacity fast enough.

Bottom line? Power is being taken off the grid faster than it is being added … and natural gas, the one clean energy source which has proven effective at lowering carbon emissions, continues to face withering bureaucratic resistance.

Such anti-consumer policies are unsustainable under normal circumstances … but they are nothing short of suicidal for our nation in light of the latest developments in the Middle East. So “drill baby, drill.” And erect the infrastructure necessary to move that energy. Now.

Keeping America’s lights on depends on it …

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and seven (soon to be eight) children.

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