U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) delivers remarks during a Republican-led forum on the origins of the COVID-19 virus at the U.S. Capitol on June 29, 2021 in Washington, DC. The forum examined the theory that the coronavirus came from a lab in Wuhan, China. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 10:51 AM PT – Wednesday, April 6, 2022
According to Republican lawmakers, American energy is under attack. On Tuesday, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) led a press conference detailing how Joe Biden’s policies are hurting Americans’ wallets.
Scalise alleged Biden has been at war with American energy companies since taking office and has crippled America’s ability to produce oil and gas. He pointed to recent reports claiming Biden is begging Canada for oil despite killing the Keystone Pipeline, which would have transported oil from that country.
This came after Biden sought oil imports from authoritarian governments, including from Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Additionally, the Louisiana Republican said Biden’s dubious energy policies don’t stop there.
“It wasn’t just Keystone, Joe Biden hasn’t approved a single new pipeline in America since he’s been president,” stated Scalise. “And it’s not that he’s against all pipelines as my colleagues have pointed out. He approved Russia’s pipeline, the Nord Stream 2 which builds on top of the Nord Stream 1, which was already supplying oil to parts of Europe. We could have been there to provide all the oil and gas that Europe needs. And instead, Joe Biden turned off the spickets here sent leverage to Putin.”
The lawmakers went on to describe who’s really suffering from Biden’s energy policies. House Republican conference chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) stressed American families are having a hard time maintaining their budgets as gas prices soar to record heights.
“Gas prices under Biden’s failed leadership are the highest in U.S. history, costing the average American household an extra $2,000 per year,” she noted. “…Democrats historic energy failures are crushing families’ budgets in my district and across the country.”
In the meantime, Joe Biden has proposed several measures, including releasing gas from U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve and threatening oil tax hikes on energy companies that he claims will curb the energy crisis. However, GOP critics believe these moves will only make the problem worse and put the burden of paying for these taxes on working class Americans.
The Republican leaders have faith that Americans see what’s going as well as who’s at fault for the skyrocketing gas prices and take that knowledge to the polls in 2022. However, Rep. Stefanik predicts Democrats will try to shuffle the blame, once again, at Wednesday’s House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing with energy producers.
