Biden’s Climate Plan Would Kill Millions of Blue-Collar Energy Worker Jobs

September 15, 2020

Joe Biden has flip-flopped on his energy promises repeatedly. Back in March at a Democratic primary debate, Biden voiced his support to ban the fracking industry. His campaign later issued a retraction on his statement, and he now claims to not want to tear down the industry that his party and appointed climate task force advisors are so outspoken and adamant about dismantling. 

Biden’s aggressive $2 trillion climate plan states there will be no new drilling permits on federal lands or waters, with a goal of fully switching over to renewables to achieve a 100% clean energy economy and net-zero emissions no later than 2050.

RealClear Politics reports:

But what is unambiguous and in big, bold writing in the Biden “buy America” plan is his signature pledge to the climate change crusaders to end fossil fuel use in America by 2035. This, of course, is a de facto ban on fracking, because if we aren’t going to use the energy, why would anyone drill for it?

That Biden zero-carbon emissions target requires a glide path to no fossil fuel production and consumption 15 years from now. Given that we currently get about 80% of our energy from oil, gas and coal, according to Daniel Yergin, a world expert on energy, getting down to zero is going to be a gut-wrenching experience for blue-collar workers.

The oil and gas industry supports 10 million American jobs, almost all high-paying blue-collar jobs like the kind that Biden says he wants to bring back home to America. Ironic the Pennsylvania native doesn’t realize these jobs are already in America, a lot of which are in Pennsylvania. According to Congressman Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA) over 600,000 jobs in the state are tied to the oil and gas industry.

The Wall Street Journal reports that, in 2019, the U.S. led the world in oil and gas production. Because of fracking, we passed Saudi Arabia in output. In other words, oil and gas IS made in America now, thanks, in no small part, to President Donald Trump’s all-in strategy of making the USA energy dominant.

So, Biden is telling us we are going to bring jobs back home by decapitation of our energy industry. Wind and solar account for about 5% of our energy consumption today, so even if we double their output, we still need to have access to other energy. Under the Biden plan, it sure looks like we will have to get it from Russia, Saudi Arabia and even China, which is planning to build hundreds of coal plants over the next decade.

Biden’s ill-informed climate plan puts at risk the 10 million jobs the oil and gas industry support. This proposed policy would take away more jobs during a time of record unemployment and push higher energy bills onto American households already struggling to make ends meet. And on top of it all, threaten America’s national security and diplomatic power the oil and gas industry has secured with our energy independence.