Energy prices have continued to rise under President Joe Biden’s radical energy and climate agenda
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL (March 24, 2023) – Energy prices have continued to rise under President Joe Biden’s radical energy and climate agenda according to analysis by The Heartland Institute, 39-year-old a free-market think tank.
The tip sheet was put together by President James Taylor and Research Fellow Linnea Lueken citing the latest data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The analysis of that data shows that household electricity prices rose 8 percent in 2021, Biden’s first year in office, but accelerated even more in 2022. In fact, energy prices have now risen 17 percent since December 2020, the last month before Biden took office. All forms of energy are now more expensive, putting a strain on the budgets of families and businesses alike.
Some key findings about energy prices over the last two years:
- Overall residential electricity prices increased by 17 percent
- Industrial electricity prices rose 34 percent
- Home heating oil prices increased by 88 percent
- Oil prices rose 61 percent
- Natural gas prices rose 51 percent
- The price of gasoline rose by $1.15 per gallon, or 46 percent
The Heartland Institute research shows that compared to two years ago, the average driver in the United States now spends an extra $650 in higher gasoline costs, $780 more in annual natural gas costs, and $1,725 extra for home heating oil. When you add in how higher energy prices are baked into the costs of all goods and services, the average U.S. household is paying $2,300 more in higher direct energy costs. When you factor in how higher energy prices affect inflation, most Americans are feeling an even larger financial hit.
“American families are already struggling to keep up with inflation, but Joe Biden’s energy policies are making inflation much worse,” said Heartland Institute President James Taylor. “My question is this, is the average American family glad it was forced to spend an extra $2,300 these past two years to fight mythical climate change? And have we noticed any climate results from each family’s expensive involuntary investment?”
The Heartland report explains the Biden administration policies that have led to these huge spikes in energy prices:
- Slow walking oil and gas leasing plans, missing legal deadlines by months
- Threatening new windfall taxes on oil companies
- Issuing the lowest number of energy production leases since the 1940s
- Repeatedly canceling legally required oil and gas lease sales
- Passing the first direct federal tax on methane emissions
- Doubling rental fees on onshore leases
- Increasing and introducing new fees associated with leasing
- Increasing onshore royalty rates by about 36 percent
- Reinstating the Hazardous Substance Superfund Financing Rate on crude oil and imported petroleum
“The Biden administration is dead set on virtue signaling and prioritizing climate change, but all it has accomplished so far is making Americans poorer,” said Heartland Institute Research Fellow Linnea Lueken. “Atmospheric carbon dioxide measurements have not declined. Everything in our economy depends on affordable electricity and fuel, including hardening our grid and homes against the impacts of extreme weather events, whether or not they are caused by any human-driven climate change.
“A dollar and fifteen cents extra per gallon might not seem like much to the Beltway elitists and green-pushing billionaires, but to the everyday American, it hurts,” she said. “‘Scranton Joe’ should know this, but maybe he just doesn’t care.”
The Heartland Institute is a national nonprofit organization founded in 1984 and headquartered in Arlington Heights, Illinois. Its mission is to discover, develop, and promote free-market solutions to social and economic problems. For more information, visit our website or call 312/377-4000.
Linnea Lueken is a Research Fellow with the Arthur B. Robinson Center on Climate and Environmental Policy.
