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US sees largest fossil fuel increase in history

THE RECORD BOOM in oil production in the United States is something to be proud of, Kamala Harris believes, echoing her rival Donald Trump.

Production hit an all-time high of 12.9 million barrels a day during her period as Vice President—and this fact has become a proud boast she churns out regularly.

“We have had the largest increase in domestic oil production in history,” she said during the September TV debate.

But her embrace of fossil fuels is no recommendation for her rival. In 2019, Donald Trump set an annual new high in the country. The Biden-Harris administration simply continued to grow it.

In multiple policy areas, the Biden-Harris administration has decried Republican positions (embracing fossil fuels, militarizing Asia against China, cracking down on free speech) as wrong—and then adopted them and continued to grow them.

This is a risky position to take – as the Democratic Party has long positioned itself as the greener alternative to the skepticism about climate change from many in the Republican Party.

But it appears that both sides have decided that a position in favor of fossil fuels is more likely to win votes.

CUTTING PRODUCTION FOR PROFIT

Yet there has been some slowdown in money flowing into shale oil drilling in the US – not for environmental reasons, but because limiting the amount of oil produced keeps prices high and profits on track.

“Industry consolidation stateside has shifted power from independent frackers chasing growth to old-guard producers that have slowed drilling investments to satiate Wall Street’s thirst for returns,” the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday this week.


Image at the top supplied by White House.

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