Fox News - "American Energy is on Ballot and It's Time to Send Biden, Democrats a Clear Message"

Op-Ed

For too long, Democrats in Washington and in liberal states across our nation have been fearmongering to rid America of fossil fuels. Unchecked by their friends in the mainstream media, these leftist radicals have claimed that we are in the midst of a climate crisis and doomed unless we make an immediate transition to "clean and renewable" energy like wind and solar. They are wrong and, if left unchallenged, their war on U.S. energy will wreak havoc on our nation and countless American families.

From his first day in office, President Joe Biden has waged an all-out war on U.S. energy. Now his administration fakes shock and awe in the face of the catastrophic results of its actions. Gas prices have soared to record highs.

America is facing looming shortages of diesel and home heating oil. Banks are lending money to folks to buy heating oil. For America's poorest families, like my family growing up, the higher cost of living caused by Biden's war on energy is devastating and begs the question: why do so many of the policies pushed by the Left hurt America's poor families the most?

When I was a kid, even though we lived in public housing, my mom could get enough money together to drive my brother to a charity hospital several hours away from our home. There's no way she would be able to do that with gas prices what they are today.

For people who are barely making ends meet, rising energy prices aren't just an inconvenience, they're a permanent barrier to rising out of poverty and achieving the American Dream. Even for those not living in poverty, rising energy costs can pull them away from financial security.

Let's go back to the looming diesel shortage I mentioned earlier. When diesel shortages occur, diesel prices go up. It's simple economics.

Rising diesel prices don't just hurt massive trucking and shipping companies, it's devastating for working-class Americans.

Rising diesel prices hurt the plumber who drives a diesel truck every day for work. Rising prices hurt small town farmers whose trucks, tractors and combines run on diesel gets hurt.

These are the people that keep America running and keep food on our tables. Rising costs for them means rising prices for everyone. Everything is more expensive and Biden's war on energy is making his already raging inflation problem so much worse. It's a vicious cycle that Joe Biden is 100% responsible for.

When governments demonize and eliminate affordable and reliable energy, and fossil fuels check both boxes, the result is the elimination of the middle class and a society in which energy becomes a luxury, not a utility.

In that society, there are two classes: the super-rich and the extreme-poor. One is relatively unaffected by high-prices, the other is trapped in an evil dependence on government programs just to survive.

This should sound familiar. It's the result of every socialist society that's ever existed on Earth. In these places, energy is such a precious and scarce resource that even the things that Americans see as the most critical pieces of our society are forced to ration it. These impossible decisions strike the most vulnerable among us first and hardest.

Patients in hospitals die from illness and disease that could be easily treated with machines like ventilators, ultrasound equipment or dialysis units because these devices cannot be continuously powered with affordable, reliable energy. While we hope and pray things won't be that desperate here, imagine this crisis hitting just American homes.

Imagine American babies dying because their parents choose not to go to the doctor because gas is too expensive, or succumbing to the elements because their family can't afford to heat their home.

It's an unthinkable reality for nearly every American alive today, but it's not an impossible future if America blindly adopts the failed, radical Green New Deal agenda being pushed by liberals in Washington.

Just look at California. One of the wealthiest states in the world's richest country suffers from brownouts and blackouts because of failed "green" energy policy.

Surely we can all hope for a future in which energy is unlimitedly renewable, incredibly cheap to produce, constantly available and harmless to the environment -- but that day is not yet here. Radical climate activists on the left forcing millions into darkness will not bring it sooner.

I'm sure by now that the anti-capitalist reading this on an iPhone while sitting in their Tesla is clutching their $8 coffee in anger and disbelief.

It's important for that person to remember that their electric car is powered by energy likely produced from coal or natural gas. And let's not forget that the mining required to make that car's batteries is far more damaging to the planet than the emissions being produced by the construction worker's truck driving in the next lane. Some inconvenient truths, I guess.

American energy is on the ballot right now and it's time to send Biden a clear message that we won't gamble our energy independence with more failed Democrat control in Washington.

Unfortunately, Joe Biden has shown that he is both woefully incapable and dangerously incompetent to move our country in the right direction.

We can't afford to give him and the Democrats more time to advance their radical agenda. Republicans will unleash safe, reliable and affordable American energy by reversing course from Democrats' failed policies -- and we will do it on day one.

American lives depend on it.

Republican Rick Scott represents Florida in the United States Senate. He is a former Florida governor.

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