LARRY KUDLOW: President Biden doesn’t understand this

“Bidenomics is really just a ploy to destroy American energy.” That’s the headline from an op-ed piece by Jason Isaac from a leading Texas think-tank. That’s up on FOX Business Digital. This is about Joe Biden’s Day 1 war against fossil fuels.   

It’s also about Uncle Joe’s top-down Bidenomics: spending literally trillions of dollars on handouts to favored woke companies, a million Democratic interest groups, blue states, blue cities, ESGs and all the rest of the liberal-left climate industrial complex.   

This is quintessential, big-government, socialist central-planning using the regulatory state to jam down our throats all kinds of dictums and decisions that we don’t want. Of course, the best examples are the Biden attacks on appliances — like gas stoves, hot water heaters, air conditioners, coal-fired pizza ovens, microwaves, ceiling fans (I don’t like cold showers) and the rest of the long list that I’ve mentioned many times before.   

People don’t want to lose their creature comforts or have to pay huge costs to replace existing appliances with new Biden contraptions. That’s why a recent Washington Post poll shows 57% disapprove of Biden’s climate policies. Only 40% approve. People want to drive gasoline-powered cars.   

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Here’s a headline: “As Ford loses billions on EVs, the company embraces hybrids.” There you go. Just like how Toyota’s brave Mr. Akio Toyoda was trashed by climate lefties for favoring hybrids, rather than 100% electric vehicles. Oops!   

Ford Motor Company is now following his lead. Why is this? Because consumers don’t want 100% EVs, and the crazy people in the Biden administration now want 66 miles-per-gallon fuel efficiency standards by 2032, up from 44 presently.   

That essentially bans gas-powered cars, but there’s no congressional law to support this revolutionary move. Henry Ford is turning over in his grave, trust me. This is nutty stuff. Another headline from the Wall Street Journal: “Wind industry in crisis as problems mount.” Subhead: “More than $30 billion in spending is delayed as setbacks pile up for renewable-energy sector.”   

Know why? Because wind power is not reliable, but none of the Biden geniuses figured that out. Here’s another one. New York City is about to embark on something called congestion pricing, which is easily among the top-three stupidest things that the left-wing governor and legislature have passed.   

This has partially been sold as a climate matter to keep cars out of New York City. Trouble is, right now, New Yorkers don’t care about the climate, and at the moment there is no congestion. In fact, the bigger problem is there are no people in the office buildings. They are half-empty.   

Hence, the New York City economic slump deepens and congestion pricing, which is very expensive, is going to kill commerce. I mean, kill it. Here’s another problem: While Saudi Arabia and Russia are cutting oil production, the U.S. stands by helplessly as gasoline prices once again move back toward $4 a barrel.  

We are at their mercy. Throw in Venezuela, too. Oh, and did I forget Iran? You know how to beat high oil prices and high gas prices? It’s easy. Produce more. We’re about 3 million barrels-per-day lower in production than we should be. That’s according to the Energy Department a couple of years back. 

Trump says, “Drill, baby drill.” Biden says, “I hate fossil fuels.” One last point: The best thing Biden could do is reclassify and declare natural gas to be a clean-burning fuel, as worthy as any renewable. Europe has already done this. Their greenies are smarter than our greenies. 

This would reduce electricity prices, that by the way, have gone up 20% since Biden was inaugurated. Gasoline up 43%, overall energy up 33%. Do you know what this does? It kills commerce, kills truckers, kills middle-class working folks and, by the way, reclassifying natural gas should be accompanied by a gigantic promotion of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, which can be used at home and exported around the world.  

As former Energy Secretary Rick Perry has often said, would reduce carbon emissions in places like China and India. Not to speak of creating good-paying jobs here at home.   

The U.S. has been the lead in carbon reduction over the last 20 years, by far more than any country in the world because folks have switched to natural gas, but Joe Biden doesn’t get this. Tragic story, don’t you think?

This article is adapted from Larry Kudlow’s opening commentary on the August 8, 2023, edition of “Kudlow.”