ENERGY Speakers: Senators Mitch McConnell & Dick Durbin Publication: Congressional Record Date: 16 June 2022

  Madam President, on a related matter, tomorrow President Biden will 
host the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate. Meanwhile, 
working Americans will continue to face the consequences of his 
disastrous energy and climate policies. While President Biden and his 
team have declared a holy war on America's domestic production, average 
gas prices have soared over $5. By August, they are projected to hit 
$6.20.
  Diesel, which literally drives our economy, is now at an all-time 
high. Natural gas is up 30.2 percent; fuel oil is up 106.7 percent; 
groceries, which overwhelmingly rely on diesel semis to get to 
supermarket shelves, are up nearly 12 percent compared to last year.
  These eye-popping numbers are the predictable results of Democrats' 
inflationary policies and specifically their war on affordable American 
energy.
  Well, the American people continue to tell Democrats they are not 
interested in buying fantastical green boondoggles when they can barely 
afford the essentials today. According to one recent poll, more than 
half of Americans are very or extremely concerned about how grocery 
prices are affecting their household's financial situation. Nearly two-
thirds feel that same way about gas prices.

  But Washington Democrats are still in staggering disarray over how 
and even whether to clean up the mess they have made.
  Some, like the administration's climate czar, John Kerry, are still 
in denial. He said recently: ``We absolutely don't''--John Kerry--``We 
absolutely don't'' need to ramp up oil and gas production. Instead, he 
insisted:

       We have to transition to electric vehicles about 20 times 
     faster than we are now.

  Americans continue to report that just affording gas has become a 
daily hardship, but the former Senator from Massachusetts says to folks 
in places like Kentucky: The solution is just buy an expensive electric 
car.
  Now, some administration officials are willing to acknowledge the 
problem, just not its source. The American people continue to hear 
about a so-called ``Putin price hike'' even though gas was already up 
nearly 50 percent--50 percent--since President Biden took office at the 
time Russia launched the war. Some Members of the President's party 
seem more clear-eyed. Yesterday, one House Democrat said:

       I'm calling on the President to sit down with domestic oil 
     and gas companies and find a way to lower prices. . . . The 
     President needs to bring everyone together.

  That was a Democrat in the House.
  But, unfortunately, the Biden administration still appears to be jaw-
droppingly naive about the consequences of its war on affordable 
domestic energy. As energy prices continued to skyrocket earlier this 
year, the White House reportedly insisted the production could just be 
turned back on with the flip of a switch.
  According to one analyst:

       They thought shale oil production could grow sharply in the 
     near term--like in a matter of months or quarters . . . They 
     were shocked to learn that that's like asking for blood from 
     a stone.

  Of course, Democrats' misunderstanding hasn't stopped them from 
trying to use American energy producers as a scapegoat. Yesterday, the 
White House press secretary insisted: ``We have done our part . . . `' 
she said. ``We need [oil companies] to act.''
  Really? That doesn't pass the laugh test.
  In a letter yesterday, one of America's biggest domestic producers 
asked the Biden administration for three things: ``Clear and consistent 
policy that supports U.S. resource development'', ``regular and 
predictable lease sales'', and ``support for infrastructure such as 
pipelines.''
  Notice that this is precisely a summary of what President Biden 
hasn't--has not been doing since he took office.
  Since day one, the Biden administration has been outright hostile to 
U.S. resource development, frozen certain new development leases, and 
canceled a pipeline project that would have expanded efficient energy 
transport and created American jobs.
  The American people are bracing for a very pricey summer, from the 
gas pump to the grocery store. And they know exactly who to blame.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois.
  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I recently read an article published by 
a woman who is very credible on the issue of energy, which I would like 
to share after the statements recently made by the Republican leader.
  The question is whether or not our production of crude oil during 
President Biden's Presidency was higher or lower than the Trump 
administration. I quote Heather Cox Richardson:

       To encourage production, Biden's officials have issued more 
     permits on federal lands than were issued in the Trump 
     administration's first three years, at a pace that approaches 
     [that of] George W. Bush's administration. Only 10% of all 
     U.S. drilling takes place on federal land, but the Bureau of 
     Land

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     Management confirms that more than 9,000 drilling permits on 
     public land are currently approved. Not all would be 
     productive if they were developed, and none of them could 
     start producing immediately, but this undercuts the argument 
     that gas prices are high because the Biden administration has 
     choked off permits.

  She goes on to say:

       What appears to be driving U.S. gas prices is the pressure 
     investors are putting on oil companies, whose officers answer 
     to their investors. Limited production creates higher prices 
     that are driving record profits. In a March 2022 survey of 
     141 U.S. oil producers asking them why they were holding back 
     production, 59 percent said they were under investor 
     pressure. Only 6 percent blamed ``government regulations'' 
     for their lack of increased production.

  Oil companies are seeing huge profits and are using the money for 
stock buybacks to raise stock prices. BP, Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron, 
TotalEnergies, Eni, and Equinor will give between $38 and $41 billion 
to shareholders through buyback programs this year.
  That is a little different picture than was just painted by the 
Republican leader.
  There is some culpability here when it comes to the oil companies, 
and blaming President Biden is ignoring the fact that he has, on 
Federal lands, which, as written, account for a percentage of our 
production in this country, expanded permits beyond the levels offered 
by the previous administration. This is certainly a more complex issue 
than was suggested by the Senator from Kentucky.