By Rep. August Pfluger and former Ambassador Nikki Haley

Originally published in National Review on December 9, 2022

America is at risk of losing one of the most important battles of the 21st century — the fight for energy security. China, Russia, and other enemies are weaponizing global energy supplies, with the goal of undermining America and ultimately defeating us. President Biden is letting it happen, so Republicans must take up the mantle of leadership. We must secure our energy future, and with it, our country’s survival.

Our greatest weapon in this battle is America’s boundless natural resources. Energy is the currency of the world and the cornerstone of any high-achieving society. Whoever cannot produce it will always be at the mercy of those who can. Yet President Biden has forgotten this fact, stifling energy production at home while begging other countries to help us out. Our enemies are not making the same mistake.

Look no further than Russia. Moscow has leveraged its exports of cheap natural gas to keep Europe at its mercy during its war on Ukraine. Germany’s delegates to the United Nations once laughed at President Trump’s assertion that they would be dependent on Russia if they didn’t change course. Now, Germany and the rest of Europe are in for a difficult winter because they outsourced their energy policy to green special-interest groups. Europe’s leaders made a fundamental mistake — and it’s their citizens who will be paying for their shortsightedness.

Communist China is moving to control the global green-energy industry while hoovering up as much oil as it can from around the world, including from regimes that despise America. It has also moved aggressively to partner with regimes in Africa and central Asia to dominate the critical- and rare-element supply chain — a key component of everything from fighter jets to clean-energy technology. If a conflict arises, our access to these supply chains could be cut off. Beijing wouldn’t have it any other way.

Rather than confront these threats head-on, the Biden administration has pursued a policy of energy surrender. We are now the Europe of ten years ago — slowly walking into a crisis of our own making. In words and action, President Biden has been consistent in undermining America’s energy producers — from canceling the Keystone XL pipeline, to leasing fewer acres for oil- and gas-drilling offshore and on federal land than any other administration, to threatening producers with crushing tax increases.

The consequences are clear: Americans are paying higher prices at the pump, and our adversaries are emboldened to inflict global chaos and degrade American energy dominance. The most vulnerable Americans and our allies abroad will only continue to suffer from the economic consequences of these policies as global energy prices rise, Europe freezes, and developing nations are unable to finance and develop desperately needed reliable energy sources.

The president has remarked that when he thinks of climate change, he thinks of good-paying union jobs. But the hallmark of President Biden’s energy policies won’t be more workers on the payroll. It will be skyrocketing prices, a worsening economic crisis that kills good-paying jobs, and America’s utter dependence on foreign countries for our energy needs.

It doesn’t have to be this way. America is blessed with abundant natural resources. If we tap them, we’ll ensure that America — not Russia, China, or Iran — is secure economically and not at the mercy of the others geopolitically. In fact, we have more than enough energy resources. We just need to make the most of what we have, which President Biden is unwilling to do.

Republicans will champion policies that empower American energy producers. Cutting regulatory barriers at the Environmental Protection Agency, undertaking serious permitting reform to efficiently bring energy to market, and streamlining the process of exporting liquefied natural gas to our allies are good policies to start with. Americans are hungry for cheaper energy, and the world is hungry for American energy, too. We can meet everyone’s needs, with energy to spare.

Above all, we need a rededication to the idea that energy made in America is inherently good. It’s a matter of jobs, it’s a matter of affordable bills, and above all else, it’s a matter of national security. Our enemies want us to do exactly what President Biden is doing because it weakens our country at the exact moment we need to be strong. Republicans will restore that strength, built on a foundation of American energy.

Nikki Haley was governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017 and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations from 2017 to 2019. August Pfluger is a United States representative from Texas and a veteran of the U.S. Air Force.