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By Rep. Jerry Carl

Since the earliest days of his campaign for the presidency, President Biden claimed he would raise taxes only on wealthy people, while not raising taxes on households earning under $400,000. Despite these claims, President Biden’s executive orders and Democrats’ bad policies have resulted in rising prices at the pump, rising prices at the grocery store, and increases in the cost of living across the board. Most of these cost increases can be traced directly back to the rise in fuel prices, which are hitting all of us in the wallet.

Fuel prices alone are up about a dollar per gallon compared to this time last year. Not only does this cost you and your family more at the pump, but it also drives up the cost of nearly every consumer good due to increased shipping costs. For example, natural gas is a key component of fertilizer, and higher natural gas costs will result in higher fertilizer costs, which will then increase food prices.

Fuel supply deficits – primarily caused by recent weather events – prove how crucial it is for the United States to increase domestic oil and natural gas drilling rather than rely on importing fuel from countries like Russia and China. President Trump did a great job of moving the U.S. toward energy independence for the first time in decades because he understands relying on other countries for our fuel puts us at a strategic disadvantage.

Some may argue drilling is dirty and bad for the environment, but we have clean energy options like natural gas, which we can drill right here at home. Thanks to free-market technology and innovations, we’ve come so far in recent decades with moving toward cleaner, more sustainable energy, and we’ve made a lot of progress toward better protecting our environment in the process.

Unfortunately, President Biden is working hard to crush American energy production while pursuing unsustainable Green New Deal energy policies. One of his first actions as President was cancelling new oil and gas leases in the Gulf Coast. This decision not only pushes America toward energy dependence on other countries, but it also robs Alabama of critical Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA) funds, which go toward coastline restoration and environmental protection projects.

While I’m not opposed to moving toward cleaner energy, we can’t just throw solar panels on an F-18 and expect it to fly very fast. I fully support free-market, sensible solutions to continue moving toward cleaner energy and a healthier environment, but I strongly oppose President Biden’s big government Green New Deal mandates. These mandates are simply a tax on hardworking Americans across the country, and I will do all I can to fight them.