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Statement on Energy Independence

 

STATEMENT ON ENERGY INDEPENDENCE & DOMESTIC POLICY

Dear Elected Officials,

I’m writing to you today to emphasize the need for American energy to be prioritized amidst exorbitant gas prices that have impacted all corners of California and the rest of the country. Now is the time for solutions that innovate and relieve the financial burdens that American workers, families, and businesses are all facing.

The White House, however, seems to have different ideas.

In a recent letter to America’s largest oil and gas companies, President Biden notes that “many factors contributed to the business decisions to reduce refinery capacity, which occurred before [he] took office.” While it is true that some of the factors influencing oil production are out of the President’s control, the levels of production we are seeing today come as a direct result of the administration’s domestic energy policies.

Since its implementation in January 2021, President Biden’s Executive Order on Protecting Public Health and the aEnvironment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis has had lasting effects on the oil industry. The order banned all new drilling on federal lands, which left many U.S. oil producers with no other option but to curtail production and deplete their existing oil reserves.

Additionally, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is moving forward with their plans to update and enact new National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), which are examined every five years. While the government is in charge of reviewing NAAQS, states and local communities are on the hook for the cost of implementing them. Given that our air quality has continued to improve annually under current NAAQS guidelines, forcing communities to new adopt new standards at this moment in time would do nothing short of bankrupting them and curtail future energy production.

Now, with talks of a windfall tax, America’s energy sector is also in danger. As we’ve seen with the Carter administration, windfall taxes will only further disincentivize domestic oil production and increase American reliance on volatile foreign oil producers. We should not be revisiting old ideas that are proven to be ineffective — we need tangible solutions to the energy crisis, not rehashed ideas that do not work. 

President Biden does have the power to incentivize domestic oil production, but his current proposals will only serve to weaken the American energy sector. I hope that we can come to a more ideal solution before Americans are completely priced out of the energy market.

Respectfully,

Marc Ang

President & Founder, Asian Industry B2B

President, Chinese American Citizens Alliance of Orange County