When Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told journalists after the June 13 party caucus meetings that Democrats under President Joe Biden have been “lowering energy costs” for two years, none of the listening scribes challenged the New Yorker to document his claim.
Schumer’s comment about energy costs came in a series of similar cost-cutting claims he made on behalf of Democrats in Congress and the Biden administration.
“While Democrats have spent the last two years lowering energy costs, lowering the cost of prescription drugs, bringing manufacturing jobs back to our shores, Republicans are doubling down on what they do best, pushing tax giveaways to large corporations and the super, super wealthy,” Schumer said.
A Schumer spokesman did not respond to The Epoch Times’ request for a clarification of which energy costs the top Senate Democrat was referring to in his comment, or to otherwise explain his justification for it.
The data for natural gas futures shows a different picture, with the price of 1 million btus of natural gas in January 2021 being $2.60, compared with $2.26 for the same purchase in the period June 12, 2023, to June 16, 2023, according to EIA, for a 13 percent decrease.
Even so, the price of gas at the pump remains the most prominent energy cost for most consumers, and critics on Capitol Hill and in the energy advocacy and research communities continue to blast the policies of the Biden administration and congressional Democrats.
Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) told The Epoch Times that “since Day One of the Biden presidency, American energy production has been under attack. Evidenced not only by the regulatory stranglehold on the energy sector but by Joe Biden himself, who campaigned on ending drilling. It was no surprise that once he enacted his regulatory policy, gas prices soared to all-time highs. Instead of reversing course and embracing a pro-American energy agenda, he drained our emergency reserves and begged adversaries to increase oil production.
“The American people aren’t tricked by political spin because they fill up their tanks and their wallets miss the days of President Trump’s energy-independent America. Americans deserve real relief and real solutions to lower energy costs—not deceitful words,” said Walberg, who is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
“Under Biden and Schumer, electricity costs are through the roof and necessarily skyrocketing. This makes sense since they are simply doubling down on his war on energy, unless it is Green and Red Chinese. Pushing Chinese batteries, windmills, and solar panels may play well in Davos and Beijing but it doesn’t cut the mustard when it comes to keeping the lights on in the U.S.A.
“And that is why, under this regime, the prospect of blackouts are looming according to the agencies charged with ensuring enough electricity. Senator Schumer’s state may be spared because it is leading the nation in businesses and people leaving, but the rest of the U.S. is a mess. The mainstream media may shake their heads in agreement, but Americans know energy prices are up, gas prices are up and the cost of everything is up while wages remain stagnant. All one has to do is check pump prices when Biden entered office and compare that with what people are paying today,” Kish said.
And Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), a prominent member of the House Freedom Caucus, told The Epoch Times that Schumer’s energy claim “is like Sam Bankman-Freed teaching a class on how to successfully make money in securities and bitcoin investments. It’s preposterous.”
