The Patriot Post® · Biden Attacks U.S. Oil, Again Begs OPEC for Help

Joe Biden is in Scotland for the UN’s latest climate summit known as COP26. After his accidental nap, he announced his plan to curb methane emissions, which he called “one of the most potent greenhouse gases there is.” By the way, the summit is taking place in Glasgow, but Biden is staying in Scotland’s capital, Edinburgh, which is roughly an hour away. To get to the summit, Biden has been traveling in a motorcade of 20 vehicles. No emissions, we’re sure.

In any case, on Tuesday he delivered his methane plan. It includes the implementation of new Environmental Protection Agency regulations on oil and natural gas companies aimed at forcing these companies to spend millions of dollars in efforts to ensure that methane/natural gas emissions from older existing oil wells are captured, as well as the introduction of new leak prevention rules.

While regulations for capturing methane emissions already exist for all new drilling operations, this regulation forces older wells to meet new standards for leak prevention and capture. Climate alarmists dubiously claim that methane/natural gas emissions are responsible for a third of all human-caused global warming. Of this latest regulation, oil lobbyist Macchiarola cogently observed, “Really, it’s just a tax on natural gas, which is counterproductive.”

Biden is hoping his action will lead other nations into signing onto the gambit. However, some of the world’s biggest methane/natural gas emitters are China and Russia, and leaders of those two nations didn’t bother attending the confab. Furthermore, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin have expressed little interest in cutting their own energy production and undermining their economic growth simply to pacify the hysterical declarations of Western elites.

Once again, Biden is proving himself to be an enemy of American energy. He killed the Keystone XL Pipeline, he instituted prohibitive regulations on fracking and offshore drilling, and now he’s imposing new regulations for methane/natural gas emissions. Meanwhile, Biden’s once again begging OPEC nations to increase their oil production as a means of controlling spiking gas prices here at home and offsetting the growing costs during a mounting energy crisis.

In a letter sent to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), three Republican senators highlighted Biden’s climate hypocrisy: “We write to you today requesting that the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) collect and provide information to Congress on the total amount of carbon emissions required to transport President Biden, the 13 U.S. political appointees, and any and all Administration support staff who attend this conference.”

The three senators, Joni Ernst (IA), Tom Cotton (AR), and Shelley Moore Capito (WV), further observed: “While President Biden continues to target American energy with harmful policies, he and his staff continue to rely on fossil-fuel transportation. In the interest of transparency, we would like an answer to understand the total amount of emissions linked to the transportation to and from COP26 for Biden Administration officials.”

In other words, the Republicans are well aware that Biden is essentially saying, “Do as I say, not as I do.” It’s not climate change that is an “existential” threat to Americans and our way of life; it’s Biden and his Liberty-infringing climate agenda.