The Biden administration's pleas for Saudi Arabia and Russia to produce more oil while it shuts down oil production in the United States make no sense and leave the nation in a weakened state, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy tells Newsmax.
"I don't know where to begin," Dunleavy, a Republican, commented on Newsmax's "Cortes and Pellegrino" in an interview Monday night. "I'm speechless. If you really believe in this country, if you really believe in the strength of this country, if you believe that opportunity should stay here in this country, that wealth and revenue should be produced here in this country, then you produce it here in this country."
OPEC and its allies agreed earlier this month to stay with its plan to raise its oil output by 400,000 barrels per day this winter, even after calls from the United States to bring in extra supplies to help ease rising prices.
Oil revenues dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic, when demand dropped. Saudi Arabia has already dismissed calls from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, collectively known as OPEC+ to speed up production.
Further, OPEC+ sources say the United States has the ability to raise production through its shale gas industry if it thinks the world economy needs more energy.
Dunleavy told Newsmax that seeking further oil from other seas "makes us weak across the board," and to "grovel to Saudi Arabia and the Russians makes no sense at all when we have plenty of energy here in the United States of America, including Alaska."
The Biden administration's stance on domestic drilling is also impacting investors and makes them think twice about investing in places that are on federal ground, said Dunleavy.
"We've been trying to get ANWR [the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge] opened up for decades up here in the state of Alaska, and that includes Republican and Democrat governors and senators," the governor said. "We had that opportunity under the Trump administration, only to have that rug pulled out from underneath us this year when the Biden administration said they're going to cancel the leases."
The irony is, though, that the government will send opportunity overseas while trying to fight climate change, but that means the environment is also impacted negatively overseas, said Dunleavy.
"One of the big reasons why these folks in D.C. are saying they want to stop production of hydrocarbons is because they want to 'save the environment,'" said Dunleavy.
However, environmental protections are enforced in the United States "better than any place on the planet," he stressed.
Meanwhile, the Biden "Build Back Better" bill reinstates the SALT (state and local tax) deduction which benefits states like New York and New Jersey, but hurts states like Alaska, which does not have an income tax, said Dunleavy.
"Whether it's New York, New Jersey, Illinois, California, that's where a lot of big Democratic donors are going to really benefit from the change in this tax approach," he said. "A place like Alaska, places like South Dakota or Wyoming, where there's no income tax, they are punished for ensuring that, you know, we put as little of a burden as possible on individuals and businesses when it comes to something like an income tax."
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