Natural Gas and Oil is Key to Reviving the Economy

August 3, 2020

Last week, President Trump traveled to Midland, Texas to give a speech at an oil rig. Texas is the top U.S. producer of both crude oil and natural gas, and the industry produces about $1.8 billion in GDP for the state. Not surprisingly, Trump mentioned Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s new $2 trillion climate plan that would transition America’s energy industry away from natural gas and oil. But, Trump largely focused on his encouragement of the industry that’s so important to Texas.

Chuck DeVore, a vice president with the Texas Public Policy Foundation, writes in Fox News:

The Trump administration’s deregulatory policies, combined with a rapidly innovating domestic energy industry, led to the U.S. becoming a net exporter of petroleum products in 2019 — including gasoline, diesel fuel and crude oil — for the first time since 1949.

Overall U.S. exports of all forms of energy exceeded energy imports last year for the first time since 1952. And in 2017, America exported more natural gas than it imported — for the first time in 60 years.

All of this energy production has saved Americans more than $200 billion per year on energy costs for their cars, trucks, homes, and businesses. These savings have never been more important than they are right now, as America continues to struggle economically during the Covid-19 pandemic. The energy industry also currently supports more than 10 million American jobs. Particularly amidst our current recovery from the Covid-19 outbreak, these jobs need to be protected and encouraged.

During the campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, Biden was forced to the left, adopting positions he appears to have forgotten — for now. For instance, Biden called for “…no more drilling on federal lands, no more drilling including offshore, no ability for the oil industry to continue to drill, period” and “no new fracking.”

President Trump has proven his ability to encourage and maximize the natural gas and oil industry, and Biden has made his intentions clear – to transition away from the industry entirely. Especially right now, that’s not what America needs to revive our economy.