Biden Embarrassed by OPEC+; KJP Causes International Incident
Biden Embarrassed by OPEC+; KJP Causes International Incident
For over a week, questions about OPEC+ consideration of output reduction, and Tuesday’s final decision to reduce output, KJP repeatedly responded with deflection and disdain for the “oil cartel.” On Wednesday, she finally got her talking points and referred people to a statement from Jake Sullivan.
The statement contradicts KJP’s Tuesday statement that, “we’re not going to be considering new releases” from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves at this time. The official statement included, “And the President will continue to direct SPR releases as necessary.”
What a difference a day makes.
The Press Secretary also made the bold claim that the Saudis are aligning with the Russians during a back and forth with one reporter. When asked if the Saudi’s are a trustworthy partner, KJP gave a garbled response before stating, “Look, it’s clear that OPEC+ is aligning with, with Russia with today’s announcement.”
Seems like a legitimate statement for someone trying to destabilize the region and the energy markets. Of the entire statement put out by the White House, that one off-the-cuff response from KJP was what garnered the most reaction globally.
Atalayar, like other regional outlets, ran with the irresponsible statement:
“The Biden administration came down hard on the OPEC+ move. White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre called the energy cartel aligning itself with Russia. While the president's top national security and economic advisers, Jake Sullivan and Brian Deese, issued a joint statement pointing in the same direction. Riyadh and Moscow's agendas and interests, at least on this issue, converge. ‘Russia suggested and got the deal and Saudi Arabia accepted because its cooperation with Russia has been absolutely beneficial,’ Salameh says.”
CNN appears to be making a run at journalism again, with an article entitled “Inside the White House’s failed effort to dissuade OPEC from cutting oil production to avoid a ‘total disaster,’” which reads:
“Some of the draft talking points circulated by the White House to the Treasury Department on Monday that were obtained by CNN framed the prospect of a production cut as a ‘total disaster’ and warned that it could be taken as a ‘hostile act.’”
Curiousy, those same talking points were included in the framing of reporters’ questions Wednesday. Coincidence?
“‘It’s important everyone is aware of just how high the stakes are,’ said a US official of what was framed as a broad administration effort that is expected to continue in the lead up to the Wednesday OPEC+ meeting. The White House is ‘having a spasm and panicking,’ another US official said, describing this latest administration effort as ‘taking the gloves off.’ According to a White House official, the talking points were being drafted and exchanged by staffers and not approved by White House leadership or used with foreign partners.”
The US Oil and Gas industry wasted no time responding, as captured in a piece by Forbes on Wednesday:
“But the irony of the administration’s self-created predicament was not lost on fossil fuel advocate Alex Epstein, author of the best-selling book ‘Fossil Future,’ who tweeted that ‘The Biden Administration is calling an OPEC production cut a ‘hostile act.’ But if it hadn’t been been for the hundred+ ‘hostile acts’ toward the US oil industry of President Joe ‘I guarantee you, we’re going to end fossil fuel’ Biden we wouldn’t be so vulnerable to OPEC.”
The US Oil and Gas Association on Twitter has been savagely trolling the administration in light of their failure, tweeting Wesnesday:
“OPEC says no, SPR options all but gone… The WH has one option left and it is the one option they should have never turned away from in the first place - the US based oil and gas industry… Life comes at you pretty fast…”
Remember that the 45th Administration eliminated America’s reliance on foreign oil while Biden reversed nearly every aspect of that policy on his first day in office. It is indeed a self-created predicament that is being felt in every sector of the US economy.
The White House statement ignored the US Oil and Gas industry as a viable option for their predicament, with Sullivan’s statement including:
“Finally, today’s announcement is a reminder of why it is so critical that the United States reduce its reliance on foreign sources of fossil fuels. With the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, the U.S. is now poised to make the most significant investment ever in accelerating the clean energy transition while increasing energy security, by increasing our reliance on American-made and American-produced clean energy and energy technologies.”
We are all building back better, and we are reducing our reliance on foreign fossil fuels by investing in clean energy.
Never let a crisis go to waste.
___________
Here is today’s letter to Congress.
ICYMI CONGRESS:
The Executive Branch is attempting to disrupt our tenuous foreign alliances, and the sloppy words of the WH Press Secretary are moving us closer to the brink of WW3.
“OPEC says no, SPR options all but gone… The WH has one option left and it is the one option they should have never turned away from in the first place - the US based oil and gas industry… Life comes at you pretty fast…” – US Oil and Gas Association, @US_OGA
“But the irony of the administration’s self-created predicament was not lost on fossil fuel advocate Alex Epstein, author of the best-selling book ‘Fossil Future,’ who tweeted that ‘The Biden Administration is calling an OPEC production cut a ‘hostile act.’ But if it hadn’t been been for the hundred+ ‘hostile acts’ toward the US oil industry of President Joe ‘I guarantee you, we’re going to end fossil fuel’ Biden we wouldn’t be so vulnerable to OPEC.” – Forbes
“Russia suggested and got the deal and Saudi Arabia accepted because its cooperation with Russia has been absolutely beneficial.” – World Bank Consultant Mamdouh Salameh
“Inside the White House’s failed effort to dissuade OPEC from cutting oil production to avoid a ‘total disaster’” – CNN
“Look, it’s clear that OPEC+ is aligning with, with Russia with today’s announcement.” – Karine Jean-Pierre
Of the entire statement put out by the White House, that one off-the-cuff response from KJP was what garnered the most reaction globally, infuriating the Saudis and embarrassing the US, once again, on the world stage.
Words matter. Policy matters even more, and the federal government is now entangling Americans into foreign conflicts in North Korea, Iran, Russia/Ukraine, China/Taiwan, and potentially even Yemen (again).
DEMAND FOR REMEDY: Reclaim your legislative powers and stop yielding American liberty to the Build Back Better agenda – which is rapidly destroying our country. Impeach this administration.
Remember your oath.