Congressional Republicans spent four years opposing the Biden administrations energy policies, asserting that they raised prices from the gas pump to our utility bills. Now its the Democrats turn to hit President on energy affordability, and they can point to the boost in the price of gasoline since the start of the Iran war as well as still-rising electric rates. But Trump is doing the one thing absolutely essential to affordability over the long-term, and that is dismantling the climate change agenda.
Despite the rhetorical pivot to affordability, supporters of climate policy cant help but take us in the opposite direction. Their entire agenda is based on the premise that fossil fuels â the coal, oil and natural gas that provide about 80% of Americas energy needs â are far too cheap for our own good because the price we pay fails to account for the environmental damage they inflict.
For those supporters, preventing the apocalypse starts with making these energy sources more expensive, if not unavailable at any price. Of course, this viewpoint is at odds with the vast majority of Americans who want access to the cheapest sources of energy. Â
Everything this agenda touched was becoming less affordable. The plants added to retirements of existing facilities while discouraging construction of any new ones. This undoubtedly contributed to the upward pressure on electric rates.
Natural gas was also a regulatory target, including its use in home appliances like furnaces and water heaters (a similar assault on gas stoves in 2023 met with a strong public backlash and was shelved). Ironically, the same Biden Department of Energy cranking out the rules discouraging natural gas appliances in favor of electric versions admitted that using gas costs only a third as much as electricity on a per-unit energy basis.
Even todays gasoline prices are a better deal for drivers than a return to the climate agenda. President was curtailing oil leasing on federal lands and offshore areas while blocking much-needed oil pipelines.
At the same time, he was raising sticker prices for gasoline-powered cars via regulations â now being repealed by Trump â designed to push us towards that most people reject due to high overall costs as well as range and charging issues. The temporary jump at the pump from the Iran war is harmless compared to the permanent pain that would be imposed by these climate measures.
In addition to strangling conventional fossil energy sources with regulations, , permitting roadblocks and other price-hiking measures, Washingtons climate crusaders also heaped big handouts on wind, solar and other favorites of the so-called clean energy transition. They now tout this transition as a means to reduce electric bills as well as emissions â and criticize Trump for opposing it. Â
But how can alternatives too expensive to compete without hefty subsidies be the solution to affordability? Good question. They cant, unless you ignore the fact that the subsidies are also coming out of our pockets â and that the vast sums already spent on green energy just to buy them a small share of the electricity mix are a mere down payment on what it would take to complete the hoped-for transition away from fossil fuels.
The new transmission lines needed to incorporate more come with cost estim
