CHALMETTE, LA – Republican governors charge that President Biden has "done nothing but attack American energy" and are urging the president to end what they call his "regulatory war" in a bid to lower fuel and food prices for people across the nation.
Seven Republican governors, standing in front of a large oil refinery along the Mississippi River a few miles east of New Orleans, Louisiana, also highlighted "a comprehensive list of immediate steps that should be taken to unleash… American energy independence."
"From day one, President Biden has done nothing but attack American energy," Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry claimed. "He paused new oil and gas leases. He canceled the Keystone pipeline. He prioritized foreign energy over domestic energy, which means he prioritized foreign jobs over domestic jobs. The Department of Energy and the EPA are releasing rules and regulations at a neck-breaking speed."
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt spotlighted a joint-letter signed by 20 GOP governors that lists what they spotlight as "commonsense steps" the Biden administration could take to lower regulations and "adopt an all-of-the-above homegrown energy plan."
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Stitt said that includes "ending regulatory overreach that is restricting domestic energy production and driving up costs, increasing the number and quality onshore and offshore lease sales of all forms of energy production, expediting the approval of federal drilling permits."
He also called for "expanding critical mineral mining and processing to counter China."
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The news conference was led by Landry and Stitt and included Govs. Mike Dunleavy of Alaska, Brian Kemp of Georgia, Glenn Youngkin of Virginia, Chris Sununu of New Hampshire, and Doug Burgum of North Dakota, who's considered to be on former President Trump's short list for 2024 running mates.
While the nation has been producing more oil than any country in history for six straight years – according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration – the governors said oil output should be increased.
"We're producing about 13 million barrels of oil a day. We should be doing 15, 16, 18, 20 million barrels of oil a day," Burgum emphasized. "That would be not just energy independence, that would be energy dominance. We'd be selling that to our allies instead of our allies having to buy from our enemies."
Asked about climate change, the governors responded that the U.S. produces fuels more cleanly than other countries, and they argued that red states were taking the lead in green energy, including wind power production.
"We're not about despoiling the environment," Dunleavy said. "If you don't do it in America and you do it overseas, there's no EPA overseas, there's no Army Corps overseas."
The governors also argued that energy is also a matter of national security.
"If the Biden administration continues this drive to repress our domestic industry and strengthen our demand for Chinese industry, we are causing a further national security crisis than the one we're already in," Youngkin claimed.
The Democratic National Committee, responding to the criticism from the Republican governors, emphasized that "President Biden has put hundreds of thousands of Americans to work in the energy sector with new, good-paying jobs fueling the 21st century economy."
And DNC spokesperson Alex Floyd charged that "while President Biden is walking and chewing gum – fighting for American workers while lowering energy costs – Donald Trump is trying to sell out America’s energy policy to the highest bidder. Trump would threaten President Biden’s made-in-America energy boom and roll back tax relief that lowers energy costs for working families – all so Trump can trade favors for campaign cash with his Big Oil and Gas backers. Trump’s pay-for-play energy agenda would put special interests donors over hardworking families and American energy production."
But Landry, speaking with Fox News Digital, argued that "another four years of Joe Biden, I don't think the American people could tolerate it…. we know that what we'll get under President Trump is what we had before, which is lower energy prices, more economic activity, and a better quality of life for all Americans."
Kemp and Sununu, who've had sharp differences with the former president in recent years, said in exclusive interviews with Fox News that a second Trump administration would be an improvement over four more years of Biden in the White House.
Asked if a second Trump administration would be friendly to the energy sector, Kemp pointed to the former president's efforts to reduce government regulations during his four years in the White House, and said, "I think it would be a big difference."
Sununu agreed, saying "ask every single American paying more at the pump, paying more for food because it costs more to grow crops, more to transport every product in America. It costs more to make every product in America."
