Biden energy sec says it's 'DC BS' to say admin's policies have led to skyrocketing gas prices

In a conference in Houston this week, US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said that it’s the "same old DC BS" in regards to critics who say the Biden administration’s policies and actions have caused the rising oil prices in the US.

"There are some here, or maybe at least lobbyists or beltway politicians, who seem to think that this is the time to recycle old talking points. You know this. I mean, people are arguing that if a pipeline that wouldn't have even been in operation by now were still under construction, the situation with today's oil prices would be different or that President Biden's policies have decreased production when we're actually at record levels of natural gas and LNG and will be at record levels of oil production, hopefully by next year," said Granholm at the 40th annual CERAWeek by IHS Markit in Houston.

"We all know that that is the same old DC BS," she added.

Granholm continued on to ask the audience and viewers, "aren't we finally ready to work together to confront this moment of crisis and to come up stronger on the other side?"

She noted that the Department of Energy and the Biden administration "is ready to work with you to seize the moment of opportunity with clean energy, and that means deploying technologies as fast as possible."

Later in her speech, Granholm said that the clean energy transition is not just a future thing, but something that is actively occurring now.

"We know you know, we have got to still reckon with the impact of climate change. That clean energy transition is not just coming it is here," said Granholm.

The CERAWeek event, titled: "CERAWeek 2022: Pace of Change: Energy, Climate and Innovation" and taking place between March 7 and 11, "will examine the challenges and opportunities of reducing emissions while supplying the needs of a growing global economy in the era of energy transition," the CERAWeek website states.

Granholm expressed similar sentiments President Biden laid out in his address this week announcing the ban of Russian oil imports to the US, claiming that his administration and policies are not "holding back domestic energy production."

"That's simply not true," said Biden. "Even amid the pandemic companies in the United States pumped more oil during my first year in office than they did during my predecessor’s first year. We're approaching record levels of oil and gas production United States, and we're on track to set a record for oil production next year."

"In the United States, 90 percent of onshore oil production takes place on land that isn't owned by the federal government. And of the remaining 10 percent that occurs on federal land, the oil and gas industry has millions of acres leased. They have 9000 permits to drill now, they could be drilling right now, yesterday, last week, last year. They have 9,000 to drill onshore that are already approved," said Biden.

"So let me be clear, let me be clear, they are not using them for production. Now, that's their decision. These are the facts. We should be honest about the facts," he added.

Biden also stressed a similar point on transitioning to clean energy.

"I’ve had numerous conversations over the last few months with our European friends of how they have to wean themselves off of Russian oil it's just not, it's just not tenable. It should motivate us to accelerate the transition of clean energy," said Biden.

Biden claimed that loosening environmental regulations or pulling back clean energy investments "will not lower energy prices for families."

"Transforming our economy to run on electric vehicles powered by clean energy, with tax credits to help American families winterize their homes and use less energy, that will, that will help. And if we can, if we do what we can, it will mean that no one has to worry about price of gas pumping the future," said Biden.

"That’ll mean tyrants like Putin won't be able to use fossil fuels as weapons against other nations, and it will make America a world leader manufacturing and exporting clean energy technologies of the future to countries all around the world," he added.

In a May press conference, Granholm was pressed about the Colonial Pipeline hacking, and how this affects the administration’s efforts to speed up their transition to clean energy.

"We obviously are all in on making sure that we meet the President's goals of getting to 100 percent clean electricity by 2035 and net zero carbon emissions by 2050. And, you know, if you drive an electric car this would not be affecting you clearly," said Granholm, a statement which Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg recently repeated.