Biden’s War on Energy Independence Threatens Jobs and Prosperity

On February 3, 2021, Kim Monson examined the Biden administration’s aggressive actions against American energy production with Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Western Energy Alliance. The episode explored executive orders halting Keystone XL construction and banning new drilling permits on federal lands, policies that threaten tens of thousands of jobs and billions in economic activity.

Federal Drilling Ban Threatens Western States

Start listening at 33:21 – Hour 1

Kathleen Sgamma warns that President Biden’s executive order banning new oil and gas leasing on federal lands will devastate Western states where 97% of federal energy production occurs. The Western Energy Alliance has filed a lawsuit challenging the ban, arguing the president lacks authority to override the Mineral Leasing Act requiring quarterly lease sales. Sgamma details the economic carnage: 58,000 jobs lost annually by the end of Biden’s first term, $33.5 billion in economic opportunity eliminated, and $8.3 billion stripped from state tax revenues.

Colorado alone faces $428 million in lost revenue by the end of Biden’s term, threatening funding for schools, roads, and public health services. Sgamma notes the cruel irony of killing energy jobs during a pandemic recovery, particularly when welders and pipefitters cannot simply transition to laying solar panels for lower wages.

“Well, it is going to put 58,000 people out of work every year by the end of President Biden’s first term. It’s going to kill$ 33. 5 billion in economic opportunity, and it’s going to wipe out$ 8. 3 billion in state tax revenues over his term.”

Kathleen Sgamma, President, Western Energy Alliance

Natural Gas Leads Emissions Reductions

Start listening at 43:58 – Hour 1

Sgamma challenges the false narrative that wind and solar can replace fossil fuels, explaining the physics and thermodynamics make 100% renewable energy impossible and cost-prohibitive. Natural gas, she notes, has done more to reduce greenhouse gas emissions than wind and solar combined by displacing coal in electricity generation, all without government subsidies.

The Western Energy Alliance president points to CU professor Roger Pielke’s research exposing climate alarmism based on outdated scenarios rather than current science. She emphasizes that reasonable people recognize climate change requires action, but extreme policies like killing American oil and gas production simply export jobs and energy demand to countries with far worse environmental standards.

“So, for example, natural gas is number one reason the United States has reduced more greenhouse gas emissions than any other reason in the United States. And that is because increased use of natural gas in the electricity sector is actually displacing more carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions than wind and solar energy combined.”

Kathleen Sgamma, President, Western Energy Alliance

Energy Independence and National Security

Start listening at 49:31 – Hour 1

Kim Monson connects energy policy to national security, noting that American energy independence under President Trump kept young Americans out of foreign wars. She highlights the hypocrisy of climate envoy John Kerry jetting around the world while preaching fossil fuel elimination, and the convenient amnesia about petroleum products in everything from skis to cell phones.

Sgamma explains that banning federal land drilling also threatens $2.2 billion annually in conservation funding for national parks and wilderness areas. The industry funds conservation through leasing and royalty revenues, a fact the administration ignores while pursuing ideological goals disconnected from energy reality.