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“American oil from American soil.” A critical lesson we must re-learn – particularly given Russia’s hostile invasion of Ukraine – is that America should NOT be relying on despot dictators for the energy we need.

Think of “crude oil” as what comes out of the ground. And think of “finished products” as what’s made from crude oil – things like gasoline, diesel, heating oil, lubricating oils, etc.

In terms of crude oil and finished products, America had essentially been energy independent under the Trump administration. We produced more than we consumed, which allowed us to be a net exporter of crude and finished products.

In fairness, even though we reached this milestone under Trump, we actually started trending in this direction under the Obama Administration. Even Mr. Obama understood the importance of American energy production. Nobody opposes the pursuit of renewables and clean energy, obviously, but those are a long way off from being able to fully support America’s energy needs. Obama understood the value of an “all of the above” energy strategy – which includes fossil fuels.

Biden changed all that.

His hostility towards American oil and gas production have been obvious. He’s canceled our Keystone XL pipeline, which would have transported more oil every day from Canada to our Gulf Coast refineries than we import from Russia. He’s suspended oil and gas leases in parts of Alaska. He’s blocked new oil exploration on federal lands. And he’s REPEATEDLY reminded this nation of his desire to “end fossil fuels” through higher taxes and regulations.

This mentality needs to change, and we need to re-invest in American energy production. Russia and Vladimir Putin have made this abundantly clear.