“We’re In Several Lawsuits”: Alaska Gov. Wrecks Team Biden’s Oil Drilling Claims

Original Article By “Will” At TrendingPolitics.com

Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, hit Team Biden’s oil and gas claims hard during an appearance on Fox News Radio’s “Brian Kilmeade Show.”

Dunleavy fought back against the idea pushed by Jen Psaki and other agents of Biden that oil prices are increasing not because the administration is hostile to fossil fuel production but because those companies simply aren’t taking advantage of opportunities.

Psaki summed up that argument during a verbal duel with a non-sycophantic reporter, saying “Well, there are nine thousand approved oil leases that the oil companies are not tapping into currently.”

She added that “So, the suggestion that we are not allowing companies to drill is inaccurate. I would suggest you ask the oil companies why they’re not using those if there’s a desire to drill more.”

Well, Governor Dunleavy wasn’t buying it. Hitting back against the idea that the gas price crisis is the fault of the oil companies, he said:

“[W]hen you shut down the Keystone pipeline, when our oil plays are either being shut down by federal judges or slowboated by the very agencies that the Biden administration oversees, that kind of rings hollow.

If you want to — if you really want to drive down the cost of energy, if you really want to save the environment, if you want to really ensure that we have national security — we take care of our national security, and Brian, just as importantly, if you truly believe in a new, green future of renewables, you can’t just turn off the spigots of oil and gas and expect the renewable age to magically appear.

You’ve got to have a transition, and that means oil and gas. And you’ve got to have enough oil and gas to meet the demands of us and our allies so that we don’t get ourselves in another position like we see with the Ukraine and Russian war that’s happening.”

“So, her arguments — trust me, from — coming from an oil state, her arguments do ring hollow. Because we’re in several lawsuits against this government — this federal government to get oil production going.”

While Dunleavy’s argument was powerful and sensible, he’s not the only one making it. Oil companies also hit back at Psaki’s comment.

American Exploration & Production Council CEO Anne Bradbury told FOX Business, for example, that:

“That accusation is a complete red herring. It’s really a distraction from the fact that this administration has paused leasing on federal lands, something that we’re concerned about and something that we think needs to continue right away.”

Additionally, American Petroleum Institute (API) president and CEO Mike Sommers told FOX Business that:

“This represents a fundamental misunderstanding as to how this process works. Once you lease land there is a whole process that you have to go through. First you have to actually discover whether actually there is oil and gas in that land. Second of all, you have to get a permit to actually develop that land.

“Right now we actually are developing more leases than we have in two decades so the White House certainly doesn’t have their facts straight on this.”

Oil companies aren’t to blame for the gas crisis, whatever Psaki says. Rather, it appears that government regulations and world events are to blame, particularly if Governor Dunleavy and the energy lobbyists are to be believed.