WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today spoke on the Senate floor to explain how Pres. Biden’s assault on American fossil fuels is driving up prices in nearly every sector of industry.
Below are key excerpts from his remarks:
“Deeply, profoundly stupid. That is the only way I know how to describe one of the worst decisions behind an administration that has become famous for bad decisions. I am talking about Pres. Biden’s assault on sustainable, affordable energy.”
“What seems to be under appreciated, Mr. President, however, is how Pres. Biden’s agenda is driving up the price, not just of oil, but of all kinds of necessities that American and Louisiana families need every day. It’s not just about oil and gas—it’s about everything. Not only do most goods get to our homes after riding in trucks, and planes, and cars and ships powered by gas or diesel, but a lot of our plastics and other products—if you think about it—they’re also made from petroleum.”
“The truth is, that American ingenuity—and I’m referring to fossil fuels—has made the most out of one of the most versatile resources that the world has ever known. But, the Biden White House is determined to punish us for that innovation—just determined to punish us—by making every single part of the American Dream more expensive.”
“Now, high oil prices are also waterboarding our farmers which contributes to these high food prices. Did you know that we make industrial fertilizer with fossil fuels? And when natural gas costs more, so does fertilizing a field of wheat or corn or soybeans. Some of our herbicides right now are twice as expensive as they were—if farmers can find them.
“Tractors drink diesel, duh. So do some irrigation systems. A gallon of diesel—one gallon—a year ago: Do you know what it was? $3.23. Do you know what it is today? $5.20.
“Now, what does that mean for Louisiana rice farmers and other growers? For every extra dime farmers spend on a gallon of diesel—every extra dime—a grower will spend about $4.50 more for an acre of rice, $2.30 more for an acre of cotton, and an extra $1.74 for an acre of corn. Corn growers—I mentioned corn growers—they also depend on nitrogen fertilizer, which we make with methane.
“And then corn—I mentioned corn—goes into cereal, goes into sweetened drinks, peanut butter, baby food, ketchup and salad dressing. You know, I don’t mean to be ugly, but this administration’s energy policy is deeply, profoundly stupid.”
“For the sake of Americans’ economic futures and for the sake of our national security, Mr. President, we cannot continue to rely on foreign oil imports—we can’t—while pretending to run this country using wind, solar and wishful thinking. Because that’s what the president’s new policy is on energy. It’s wind. It’s solar. It’s wishful thinking. Wishful thinking doesn’t fill gas tanks or grocery carts.”
View Kennedy’s complete remarks here.