Share this page!

Alex Epstein Profile picture
Twitter logo
29 Jan, 11 tweets, 3 min read
Biden’s ban on oil/gas leasing on federal lands is a dictatorial measure that will 1) increase US energy costs, 2) decrease US energy security, 3) destroy US companies, 4) destroy US jobs, 5) discourage US industry, 6) decrease US tax revenue, and 7) increase global emissions.
Biden's oil/gas leasing ban is dictatorial. Federal lands under the Bureau of Land Mgmt are by Federal law required to be open to energy development, including oil/gas. If Biden disagrees with this he should try to change the law, not put himself above the law.
Consequence 1 of the Biden oil/gas leasing ban: increasing US energy costs. Anything we do to restrict domestic oil production means higher prices due to the increased transportation costs involved in importing oil from other countries.
Consequence 2 of the Biden oil/gas leasing ban: decreasing US energy security. Anything we do to restrict domestic oil and gas production means more dependence on foreign countries for energy and more vulnerability to supply shortages.

Consequence 3 of the Biden oil/gas leasing ban: destroying US companies. Less US production means more US businesses throughout the oil/gas supply chain going out of business.
Consequence 4 of the Biden oil/gas leasing ban: destroying US jobs. Companies that were going to hire or retain workers for new projects on Federal lands can no longer give those workers jobs.
Consequence 5 of the Biden oil/gas leasing ban: discouraging US industry. By sabotaging the plans of businesses who planned to lease lands for oil/gas development, Biden continues to send the message: anything you try to build that involves fossil fuels, I will try to destroy.
Consequence 6 of the Biden oil/gas leasing ban: decreasing tax revenue throughout the US. Many states, such as New Mexico and Wyoming, rely heavily on oil/gas leasing to fund their government operations, including schools. Leasing bans destroy that funding in the future.
.@NMOilAndGas says it well: "thousands of New Mexico children, teachers, and first responders...rely on our oil and natural gas industry for basic support...A moratorium all but guarantees that unemployment will rise, state revenue will fall, and our economy will come to halt."
Consequence 7 of the Biden oil/gas leasing ban: increased global emissions. US production of oil and gas is some of the cleanest in the world. Banning it in any part of the US doesn't change growing global oil/gas demand, it means more production in places with higher emissions.
The only moral and practical way to lower global CO2 emissions is to encourage innovation that could make low-carbon energy cheap for everyone. Senselessly sacrificing American is wrong. Learn more about the right policy here: energytalkingpoints.com/co2-emissions/

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Alex Epstein

Alex Epstein Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @AlexEpstein

Alex Epstein Profile picture
29 Jan
Joe Biden's escalating bans on domestic fossil fuel production, combined with mandates of unreliable solar and wind overwhelmingly produced by unreliable China, are an existential threat to our energy security and therefore our national security.

THREAD
In the last decade, America has achieved unprecedented energy security thanks to domestic, reliable energy production from coal and especially from oil and natural gas unlocked from abundant, once-useless shale deposits via "fracking."
While we are taught to take energy security for granted, that is a huge mistake. In the 1970s, thanks in large part to a lack of domestic energy production, we suffered two enormous energy crises that ground life to a halt. Endless gas lines, unheated schools, blackouts, etc.
Read 22 tweets
Alex Epstein Profile picture
22 Jan
The Paris Climate Accords is an immoral, self-destructive agreement that on paper commits the US to huge productivity losses in the short term and total economic destruction in the long term. Unfortunately, Joe Biden’s plan to implement the Paris Accords is far worse.

THREAD
In 2015 the Obama/Biden administration, without Senate authorization, committed the US to the Paris Climate Accords. The Accords called for a 28% cut in emissions by 2025 and at least an 80% cut by 2050.
The costs of Obama's Paris plan would have been enormous. The nonpartisan National Economic Research Associates concluded that Obama's plan would cause rising economic damage reaching $2 trillion a year—about $15,000 a household—by 2040.
Read 12 tweets
Alex Epstein Profile picture
4 Jan
If the US shouldn't rejoin the Paris Climate Accords, what should we do?

First, recognize reality: there is climate change but no climate crisis. Fossil fuels' overall impact is incredibly positive.

Second, liberate oppressed non-carbon alternatives, above all nuclear energy.
The only way to lower CO2 emissions and benefit America is developing ways to produce low-carbon energy that are truly reliable and low-cost. Are China and India going to stop using fossil fuels so long as they are the lowest-cost option? They won’t and they shouldn’t.
America can lower emissions and energy costs by decriminalizing nuclear energy. Nuclear is actually the safest source of energy and the only way to provide reliable non-carbon electricity anywhere in the world. Yet politicians are overregulating it to death.
Read 5 tweets
Alex Epstein Profile picture
4 Jan
Reason #3 why Biden should not rejoin the Paris Climate Accords: it is immoral. A moral international policy is one that expands human flourishing and human freedom. Paris is a path to outlawing fossil fuels, the way to provide affordable, reliable energy for billions of people.
Global CO2 emissions are rising, and not because of the US (1/6th and falling). They are rising because billions of people in the developing world are bringing themselves out of poverty by using fossil fuels to power factories, farms, vehicles, and appliances.
The developing world overwhelmingly uses fossil fuels because that is by far the lowest-cost way for them to get reliable energy. Unreliable solar and wind can’t come close. That’s why China and India have hundreds of new coal plants under construction.
Read 12 tweets
Alex Epstein Profile picture
26 Nov 20
Q: Won't a carbon tax reduce CO2 emissions without hurting our economy?

A: No. A carbon tax would raise energy prices, make every American industry less competitive, and offshore our CO2 emissions to the countries that outcompete us.
Any policy toward CO2 must recognize that CO2 emissions are a global issue--and that that global emissions are rising because of the developing world's increasing use of fossil fuels. The US causes less than 1/6 of global emissions—and falling.
The developing world overwhelmingly uses fossil fuels because that is by far the lowest-cost way for them to get reliable energy. Unreliable solar and wind can’t come close. That’s why China and India have hundreds of new coal plants under construction.
Read 17 tweets
Alex Epstein Profile picture
26 Nov 20
Q: Won’t Joe Biden’s energy plan create enough “green energy jobs” to offset millions of lost jobs in the fossil fuel industry?

A: No. By making energy unreliable and unaffordable for every American industry, the Biden Plan would create mass "green joblessness."
"Creating jobs" is only a good thing if those jobs are productive jobs. If the government pays people to produce inferior products and services or pays people to produce inefficiently, that is "welfare work" that hurts American consumers and American competitiveness.
Many of the jobs created by the Biden Plan would involve building new, unreliable solar and wind infrastructure. This infrastructure can't replace our reliable power plants--it will just add a lot of new costs that consumers and industry have to pay. Classic welfare work.
Read 11 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get emails when @AlexEpstein has new unrolls!

Check out other threads from @AlexEpstein!

Read all threads by @AlexEpstein