Declaring a National Climate Emergency Would Be an Excuse to Cripple the Energy Industry

June 1, 2021

There’s a concerning trend starting to take hold in the extremist reaches of the environmental movement. Increasingly upset that they can’t get their way on every policy, these extremists are now pushing the Biden Administration to declare a “climate emergency”, which could then be used as cover for enacting all sorts of expensive, unpopular policies.

A recent Vox article lays out how this could happen. In Texas, the Permian Basin is one of the fastest-growing regions for natural gas exploration. Because the land is not owned by the federal government, there are limited options for federal policymakers eager to shut down these important fields. So, Vox lays out the extreme option:

Biden has one more option to rein in the Permian Basin, albeit the most drastic one. He can declare a national climate emergency to cut off producers from their global customers. While the most politically controversial of his options, it may become the only feasible option if Congress fails to pass climate measures.

There is a narrow pathway to do this. In 2015, Congress lifted a crude-oil export ban but kept a “get-out” clause. It allows a president to suspend these exports by declaring a national emergency. 

The environmental movement (and this Vox article) are eager to paint Texas and energy companies as having extremist views. But the same article also prominently quotes one environmentalist sharing their true goal for the oil and gas industry. “We’re going to actually need to wind down the industry, not just clean it up.”

This is the true goal of these radical environmentalists and their Green New Deal – to shutter a vital American industry, reduce our energy independence, increase energy rates, and do it all by executive fiat if necessary.

As Biden’s Climate Envoy John Kerry admitted, “Almost 90 percent of all of the planet’s global emissions come from outside of U.S. borders. We could go to zero tomorrow and the problem isn’t solved.”

That quote is worth remembering. Especially as some seek to declare a phantom American climate emergency, in order to shut down a critical source of American energy, as part of a broader effort to “wind down” America’s oil and gas sector. This is not about helping the planet; it’s about hurting an industry.