Biden Can Run & Win on Big Oil GOP Donors Colluding to Raise Gas Prices

[Nevilledog]

https://therevolvingdoorproject.org/biden-can-run-win-on-big-oil-gop-donors-colluding-to-raise-gas-prices/

It’s well-established that recent inflation has been propelled to a large extent by corporate price-gouging, not workers’ modestly growing wages. It’s rare, however, that we see text messages showing a Republican fossil fuel tycoon conspiring with domestic and foreign oil producers to fleece Americans. But that’s exactly what happened last Thursday when the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) exposed how Scott Sheffield, the founder and ex-CEO of fracking giant Pioneer Natural Resources, colluded with U.S.-based drillers, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and OPEC+ to constrain the global supply of oil. The production cuts he organized contributed to higher gasoline and home heating prices while lining the pockets of fossil fuel executives.

Despite our best efforts, the FTC unfortunately declined to block ExxonMobil’s $64.5 billion acquisition of Pioneer, which was finalized last Friday. The agency greenlit the merger on the condition that Sheffield be prohibited from serving on Exxon’s board of directors or advising the oil major following the deal. The consent order laying out this agreement cites an FTC complaint alleging that “Sheffield has campaigned to organize anticompetitive coordinated output reductions between and among U.S. crude oil producers, and others, including [OPEC] and a related cartel of other oil-producing countries known as OPEC+.” As discussed in more detail below, the FTC provides plenty of evidence to substantiate its accusation.

If there’s one thing this scandal confirms, it’s this: Big Oil, not the regulatory state, is to blame for high energy prices. Alas, many hacks have previously argued otherwise, so we’re here to set the record straight. As we’ve noted, a competent Biden reelection campaign would have already started denouncing Sheffield as a breathing embodiment of the corporate profiteering underlying recent cost-of-living struggles. Better late than never.

The “Permitting Reform” Camp’s Flawed Campaign to Vilify NEPA

Over the past few years, an alliance of so-called “permitting reform” (read: deregulation) advocates has blamed environmental regulations for limiting energy supply and consequently driving up prices. Because this is a coalition that includes everyone from Big Oil and the right-wing lawmakers it bankrolls to prominent liberal commentators, the argument varies depending on who makes it.

*snip*

[DemocraticPatriot]

1. President Biden should denounce 'big oil' for any rising gasoline prices,

from now until the election!

"I don't control gasoline prices--- but the Republicans who run big oil DO,
and they are screwing you while blaming it on ME!"

When gasoline prices were highest, President Biden sold much oil from our emergency reserves,
making the situation less bad than it would have been otherwise...
Most people don't seem to know about that, either--
or that Donald Trump urged foreign producers to cut production, when oil prices were falling during the pandemic--
he wanted to protect big oil, rather than let ordinary Americans have a nice price break!