Editor’s Note: what follows is a letter sent yesterday by U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins (R-Louisiana) to President Biden upon the news that OPEC+, the global oil cartel, is cutting oil production among its member nations by two million barrels per day. Estimates indicate that oil prices are due to shoot above $100 per barrel in the coming weeks as a result, in an outcome CNN describes as a “total disaster.“

President Biden,

Your administration’s energy policies have injured domestic oil and gas production and destroyed American energy independence. Gas prices and utility costs are again rising, and the United States is more susceptible than ever to global market disruptions. This could all be avoided if you would embrace pro-American energy policies.

Revoking permits for the Keystone XL pipeline, enacting a drilling moratorium on federal lands and waters, increasing offshore royalty rates, weaponizing the regulatory process, and rescinding Trump-era permitting improvements have all injured American oil and gas production. These are actions that you have taken since January 20, 2021. As a result, fuel and utility costs have dramatically risen for every American family. OPEC+ nations now exert more significant influence over global energy markets, and America’s energy security is threatened.

Despite your begging foreign dictators to increase production, OPEC+ nations are preparing to cut output by 2 million barrels daily. You must act now to unleash America’s full production capabilities. Get the federal government out of the way of private industry. It is not too late to abandon your failed policies and help us restore American energy independence.

Under President Trump, we prioritized an all-of-the-above energy strategy that lowered costs in the United States and provided our allies with a clean, affordable, and secure energy supply. We must return to American energy dominance. Your administration must end its predatory stance toward American oil and gas producers.

Respectfully,

Clay Higgins
Member of Congress