Biden Embraces Oil as War Overwhelms Climate Agenda

“President Joe Biden delivered his strongest endorsement of oil on Thursday, ordering an unprecedented release of emergency U.S. crude in a move that gambled his climate-saving credentials on lowering gasoline prices in an election year,” Bloomberg reports.

“If the strategy works, Biden may help stave off both a recession and crushing defeats for his party in midterm elections, while drawing the ire of climate activists and potentially derailing his green goals. If it fails — and it very well might — he risks looking like Jimmy Carter, snubbed by oil-rich Mideast nations and powerless to rein in prices at the pump.”

“It’s a remarkable shift for a president who campaigned on promises to combat climate change, accelerate renewable fuels and block drilling permits on public lands and waters. In the space of a week, he’s instead ordered the emergency release of 180 million barrels of crude from U.S. stockpiles and presided over a plan to boost exports of American natural gas to Europe.”

New York Times: As gas prices soar, Biden’s climate ambitions sputter.

AP: “The president said it was not known how much gasoline prices could decline as a result of his move, but he suggested it might be ‘anything from 10 cents to 35 cents a gallon.’”