Senator Ted Cruz Is Working to Protect the Energy Industry

April 20, 2020

Right now, America is simultaneously dealing with a public health emergency and an economic crisis. The COVID-19 outbreak has taken more than 30,000 American lives and left 22 million out of work. Unfortunately, as Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) wrote in The Dallas Morning News, “These two crises have also caused a third crisis in Texas: an energy crisis.”

As America works to slow the spread of COVID-19, many cars are off the road and most flights are grounded – lowering the demand for oil. Russia and Saudi Arabia then took advantage of this pandemic, flooding the global oil market to drive down prices even further and drive smaller U.S. producers out of business.

As my friend and energy expert Wil VanLoh explained on my podcast “Verdict” last week, if this perfect storm continues for much longer, many small and independent energy producers will go bankrupt. And once the wells turn off, there may be no turning them back on.

This would put millions of Americans out of work, cost hundreds of millions in revenue, sacrifice our energy independence and dominant position on the global stage, and make the day-to-day aspects of our life more expensive. Fortunately, Senator Cruz is exploring ways to ensure this doesn’t happen.

First, we must hold Saudi Arabia and Russia accountable for engaging in predatory pricing during a global pandemic…Second, we can make sure America’s energy producers have critical access to capital.

Some progress has been made, such as opening the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and reaching a deal for Russia and Saudi Arabia to significantly cut oil production. It’s clear that this will be a long recovery and there is no silver-bullet solution, but it’s encouraging to see lawmakers recognizing the importance of this industry and working to protect it.