Joe Biden’s Interior Department suspended a Trump-era drilling lease in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in order to conduct a “comprehensive analysis” of the potential environmental impact of drilling for oil and natural gas. We’re sure that’ll go smoothly and be done in time for Christmas. Recall that on his first day in office, Biden issued an executive order enforcing a temporary moratorium on all ANWR oil-related drilling over “alleged legal deficiencies.” That was in tandem with canceling the Keystone Pipeline. In truth, of course, Biden is catering to radical environmentalists as part of his war on American energy.

Fox News notes, “Biden has pledged to prioritize green energy initiatives as part of an effort to reduce carbon emissions. He paused oil and gas leases on federal land by executive order in January. The president called for an end to drilling in the Alaskan refuge during his presidential campaign.”

Biden obviously has no interest in establishing American energy independence, which President Donald Trump worked so hard to achieve. To the contrary, Biden is suspending and reversing such efforts. His actions mean Americans can expect to see rising prices at the pump — a return to the era of Barack Obama’s “new normal.”

Yet beyond rising prices at the pump, the bigger and longer-term concern is that of national security. The recent temporary gasoline supply shortages caused by the cyberattack on Colonial Pipeline brought memories of the gas shortages of the 1970s, which were thanks to OPEC. Similarly, continuing to outsource our gas and oil supply will only put the country on more dangerous ground. By not drilling for oil and not being as energy independent as possible, we’re ceding our national security to the likes of Russia, Venezuela, and Middle Eastern nations.

Moreover, in terms of addressing climate change, Biden’s goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 is a nearly impossible feat. For one thing, there’s a dearth of non-carbon-emitting power plants such as nuclear, which are required to meet such a goal, and Biden and company eschew nuclear power. At the present, in any case, the reality is that American energy independence is dependent on fossil fuels. Government fiats to the contrary are not the solution.