President Joe Biden's crusade against American energy, as Leah reported earlier this week, now includes plans to further restrict access to the rich natural resources that lie beneath the ground. His latest efforts to ban mining and oil drilling across a vast swath of New Mexico, of course, will mean Americans will have to rely on other countries — including those with abhorrent labor policies and some of our foes — for future resources that will sit readily available under thousands of acres of land in New Mexico.
The Biden administration's proposal, which remains open for public comment until December 19 of this year, is — like most of his energy policy — not going over well.
"Biden has repeatedly said the he’s doing ‘everything he can’ to lower gas prices," reminded Steve Milloy, senior fellow at the Energy and Environment Legal Institute. "From Day one of his term, though, he’s been doing everything he can to make gas prices higher in order to scare drivers away from gas cars and into electric vehicles. Although we ironically have record oil and gas production, Biden’s anti-oil policies and actions have made the US lose critical oil market dominance," Milloy, who also served on the EPA transition team in the Trump administration noted. "The US is no longer in control of the marginal price of oil as it was under President Trump. OPEC is now in charge, and that will threaten our economy and national security until a new administration makes it clear that US policy will unleash the oil industry to crush the price of oil."
It's not just OPEC and its member states — including Iran and Venezuela, along with OPEC+ member Russia — that stand to gain power and wealth from reduced U.S. energy dominance.
"President Biden is once again putting America, American workers, and America's energy security last, and advancing the economic and geopolitical power of the Chinese Communist Party," pointed out Sterling Burnett, Ph.D., director of the Heartland Institute's Robinson Center on Climate and Environmental Policy.
"Almost every week, Biden withdraws a new large swath of land from oil and gas or critical mineral production, leaving the United States ever more dependent on foreign countries, primarily China, to power our homes and economy," Burnett emphasized.
"The BLM‘s proposed ban is yet another example of the Biden administration restricting access to important resources that could drive down energy prices and make it easier to build critical infrastructure," noted Daren Bakst, the director of the Competitive Enterprise Institute's Center for Energy and Environment. "The 4,200 acres at issue are considered to have high potential for the extraction of sand and gravel, which is especially important for construction purposes, such as roads," he explained. "This sweeping action, which could last for up to 50 years, is short-sighted and could unnecessarily harm Americans today and well into the future."
In addition to the direct cost to American energy security and independence from Biden's ever-expanding restrictions, abdicating energy and resource dominance means increased incentive for other countries to exploit their people to produce more of limited materials, such as those needed in electric vehicle supply chains.
"Resources, including minerals, will come out of the ground to improve the lives of people everywhere," explained Competitive Enterprise Institute President and CEO Kent Lassman. "We can do that in America, responsibly, with sensible law bound safeguards or we can rely on child slave labor from abroad," he added. "The latest move by the president once again gives our future away to radical political demands instead of doing the hard work of sensible energy policy."
As Townhall previously reported, the Biden administration has already signed "blood battery" supply chain agreements with countries in Africa where Biden's own State Department says forced and child labor is prevalent. More reliance on such abhorrent work environments will be necessary as Biden slashes U.S. projects.