Imagine a world where Fox News praises the President for negotiating a deal that raised the price of oil by 24%. That of course, was what happened 2 years ago today, and we need to talk about it to understand the @GOP hypocrisy about today's gasoline prices. Thread:
1/ I am of course talking about April 2, 2020 when Trump threatened to remove US troops from Saudi Arabia unless they cut oil production. "...a diplomatic victory for the White House" reuters.com/article/us-glo…
2/ Oil prices surged in response to anticipated production cuts. cnbc.com/2020/04/02/oil…
3/ And Fox, as noted, praised his skill at deal making. foxbusiness.com/markets/trump-…
4/ To state the obvious, oil is a global commodity, with prices in Peoria set based on global supply/demand balances. Pressuring the Saudis to slash supply predictably tightened markets, raising consumer prices at the pump and boosting oil company profits.
5/ The @GOP praised this approach because given the choice between cutting prices to consumers or boosting oil company profits they will ALWAYS favor the latter.
6/ They won't phrase it that way of course, but you can't name a time when they have advocated for increasing global supply or reducing global demand. They oppose clean energy BECAUSE it is cheap.
7/ You can't make money selling oil to someone with a well insulated home, PV on the roof and an EV in the garage. Consumers benefit, but the oil companies don't.
8/ Fast forward 2 years. We simply take it for granted that the clean energy incentives in @POTUS energy plan will not get a single Republican vote - for all the reasons noted above. There is no bipartisan support for maximizing the supply of cheap energy to American consumers.
9/ And meanwhile, what is on the mind of the Ranking (@GOP) member of the House climate committee today? SPR releases that would lower gasoline prices for American consumers. garretgraves.house.gov/media-center/p…
10/ This is part of a very complete whole. Pressure foreigners to cut oil supply and increase prices. Block Americans from accessing the technologies they need to avoid those prices. And criticize the President for adding supply to lower those prices.
11/ Does this sound partisan? It is! Not because I'm trying to be partisan but because an entire party is committed to cutting oil supply and increasing oil demand.
12/ I do not apologize for being committed to making sure Americans have access to cheap, clean energy - but beware of anyone who prioritizes both-sides bipartisanship over that goal.
13/ And the media needs to do a much better job: A landlord who says "I'm doubling your rent to make you rich" deserves no more credibility than a politician who says "I'm boosting demand and cutting supply to lower prices"
14/ So let's now imagine a world where all the praise heaped on TFG when he fixed the "problem" of cheap oil was redirected to the current situation where all CLAIM to agree that rising gasoline prices are a problem that demands action.
15/ Should Biden threaten to remove all our Saudi military support until they ramp up production? Should Biden block the construction / operation of domestic oil and gas export terminals to decouple US prices from global markets?
16/ Should the US massively ramp up renewable, efficiency and EV deployment to slash fossil fuel demand and lower consumer prices? Should the US ramp up SPR releases to provide temporarily relief at the pump?
17/ There are reasons why some of those questions are a bit more nuanced, and I don't want to suggest all are a yes. But it is worth noting that no one in the @GOP is demanding we do ANY of them. It's not complicated to understand why.
18/ Given a choice between your wallet and oil company balance sheets, they will always take from the former to subsidize the latter. /fin
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