This past Tuesday, President Joe Biden found himself under scrutiny for his choice to mock the CEO of a major U.S. company after they took the time to propose a series of solutions to attempt to reduce gas prices to help American families that are suffering under the extreme prices being seen at the pump.
Biden’s mocking comments were hurled at Michael Wirth, the CEO of Chevron, who stated that the entire mission of his company was to “work every day to help provide the world with the energy it demands and to lift up the lives of billions of people who rely on these supplies.”
Wirth also stated that Chevron seeks to help the Biden Administration in its fight against the rising fuel costs, but the administration “has largely sought to criticize, and at times vilify, our industry.”
“These actions are not beneficial to meeting the challenges we face and are not what the American people deserve,” he wrote out in a release. “We need clarity and consistency on policy matters ranging from leases and permits on federal lands, to the ability to permit and build critical infrastructure, to the proper role of regulation that considers both costs and benefits. Many of these elements are described in our industry’s recently released 10-point plan.”
Biden issued his response to these statements from Wirth by starting to mock him, saying ‘he’s mildly sensitive.”
“I didn’t know they’d get their feelings hurt that quickly. Look, we need more refining capacity. This idea that they don’t have oil to drill and to bring up is simply not true.”
Additionally, the President and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute (API), Mike Sommers, which is the only national trade association that holds the place as a representative of all aspects of America’s oil and natural gas industries, put forth his own 10-point plan to try and fight off increasing fuel costs.
“Your administration has restricted oil and natural gas development, canceled energy infrastructure projects, imposed regulatory uncertainty, and proposed new tax increases on American oil and gas producers competing globally,” Sommers stated in a letter. “Respectfully, the American people need a different direction to solve this crisis.”
The 10-points issued by the API included:
- Lift Development Restrictions on Federal Lands and Waters
- Designate Critical Energy Infrastructure Projects
- Fix the NEPA Permitting Process
- Accelerate LNG Exports and Approve Pending LNG Applications
- Unlock Investment and Access to Capital
- Dismantle Supply Chain Bottlenecks
- Advance Lower Carbon Energy Tax Provisions
- Protect Competition in the Use of Refining Technologies
- End Permitting Obstruction on Natural Gas Projects
- Advance the Energy Workforce of the Future