Brunswick Beacon, 02.02.23
Merriam-Webster’s 2022 Word of the Year was ‘gaslighting,’ defined as “the act or practice of grossly misleading someone, especially for one’s own advantage.” Example: Congressman David Rouzer’s disinformation about President Biden’s energy policies.
Rouzer falsely claims the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is at “record low levels.” In fact, it was lower under Pres. Reagan. Similarly, Pres. Trump falsely claimed he “built up” the SPR from “virtually empty” to “100% full.” Actually, the only time it reached 100% capacity was under Pres. Obama. The SPR declined almost weekly throughout Trump’s presidency and was lower when he left office.
Rouzer falsely accuses Biden of a “war on American energy production.” Actually, Biden urged companies to drill more and boost supply. Result? America is the world’s largest producer of oil and natural gas. Production hit a record in 2022 and is forecast to set a new record in 2023.
Rouzer criticizes Biden for selling oil to reduce gas prices, but 70% of Republicans voted in favor of Trump’s proposal to do the same thing in 2018. Trump actually proposed selling off half the SPR and permanently closing two of its four storage facilities!
Rouzer’s criticism is not just hypocritical, it’s bad policy. After Biden began drawing down the SPR, gas prices dropped dramatically to 18-month lows. Moody’s Analytics says that saved Americans $218 billion. CNN Business says it saved $150/month for every American household! Biden sold oil when it was expensive. Now that prices have dropped, Biden is replenishing the SPR with cheaper oil. Investopedia says American taxpayers will enjoy a “$4 billion windfall.”
Rouzer’s vote to prevent selling SPR oil to China was pointless. Experts say who we sell to is irrelevant because oil is a global commodity. Rouzer’s vote simply proves he doesn’t understand that any oil we sell frees up other oil for China to buy.
Rouzer has a gaslight, it just isn’t very bright.
Robert Bannerman
Supply