Energy Industry Heaps Scorn on Biden for ‘No More Drilling’ Remarks

President Joe Biden delivers remarks at Union Station in Washington on Nov. 2, 2022. Michael A. McCoy/Getty Images

Representatives of America’s energy industry have criticized President Joe Biden’s recent “no more drilling” remarks at a rally in Yonkers, New York, that have been widely interpreted as a doubling down on his earlier pledge to phase out fossil fuels, even though he recently urged oil companies to pump more crude to bring down soaring gas prices.

“No more drilling,” Biden said at the rally on Nov. 6, after an exchange with a climate protester.

“There is no more drilling. I haven’t formed any new drilling.”

His remarks come days after he demanded in New Mexico that oil companies “should be drilling more,” and that if they did, prices at the pump would be lower.

Republican critics of the president’s energy policies said that Biden’s “no more drilling” remarks were proof of his administration’s intentions to phase out domestic fossil fuel production.

“Two days before the midterm elections, Joe Biden clearly states he is for ‘no more [oil] drilling,'” the Republican National Committee posted on Twitter.

Conflicting Statements?

Asked by reporters whether Biden’s remarks were in conflict with his pleas in New Mexico for the oil industry to pump more crude, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre insisted there was none, adding that the president’s comments were meant in reference to oil drilling in America’s Arctic region.

“When the Trump administration opened the Arctic Refuge for drilling, not a single major oil company actually bid on the sale,” Jean-Pierre said. “And so there is no shortage of opportunity for these companies to produce oil here in the United States. They’re sitting on 9,000—you’ve heard us talk about this—9,000 unused but approved drilling permits.”

Representatives of the U.S. energy industry, nevertheless, said Biden’s remarks sent the wrong signal.

‘Americans Deserve Energy Security’

Tim Stewart, president of the U.S. Oil & Gas Association, told Fox News that Biden’s comment was “yet another unserious statement by an increasingly unserious president.”

Todd Staples, president of the Texas Oil & Gas Association, told Fox News that the “no more drilling” remark was aligned with the current administration’s long-standing pattern of hostility toward fossil fuels.

“Americans deserve energy security, and it’s time our federal government treated oil and natural gas like an asset, not a liability,” he told the outlet.

The American Petroleum Institute made a statement on Twitter that if Americans look at the Biden administration’s record on energy policy, “they'll see one step after another to restrict American natural gas and oil production—which could help address the worldwide imbalance between demand & supply.”

Environmentalist and author Michael Shellenberger wrote in a series of posts on Twitter that Biden’s “no more drilling” remark amounted to an admission of his administration’s hostility toward fossil fuels.

“By shouting ‘No more drilling. There is no more drilling!’ at a New York rally, Biden has effectively admitted that he and his administration have been lying for months,” Schellenberger wrote.

“For months Biden has attacked oil companies for not producing more and insisted he’s no obstacle to oil drilling. ... Mask’s off.”

On the campaign trail, Biden promised to eliminate fossil fuels. Asked by a debate moderator whether there would be “any place for fossil fuels, including coal and fracking, in a Biden administration,” he replied, “No, we would make sure it’s eliminated.”

During a debate against then-President Donald Trump, Biden pledged to transition the United States away from oil.

Biden has also threatened to impose a windfall profit tax on U.S. energy producers, discouraged financial firms from funding fossil fuel production, and canceled infrastructure projects, including the Keystone pipeline that Trump revived.

After Biden took office, he issued an executive order blocking new drilling leases on federal land and waters, an action that was later overturned by a federal court ruling (pdf).