Republicans from Donald Trump, to Kevin McCarthy, to Elise Stefanik have spent the last week lying about President Biden and America’s energy independence. The U.S. is more energy independent now under President Biden than it was under Donald Trump. 

FACT: Under President Biden, the U.S. is actually more energy independent, as energy production is increasing and outpacing consumption, and became a larger net energy exporter in 2021. 

Bloomberg: “In 2020, for the first time in 69 years, the U.S. exported more energy than it imported. The numbers for 2021 aren’t all in yet, but everything is pointing to an even bigger energy surplus.”

Axios: “The U.S. is now energy independent”

U.S. Energy Information Agency: “Following its historic shift to being a net exporter of petroleum in 2020, the United States continued to export more petroleum (which includes crude oil, refined petroleum products, and other liquids) than it imported in 2021.”

FACT: Despite Republicans’ lies, Donald Trump was NOT responsible for the trend that led to the U.S. becoming a net energy exporter. The U.S. became the top producer of oil and natural gas before Trump took office. 

USA Today: “It’s true that the U.S. has become a significant exporter of energy. But it would not be accurate to say that Trump was responsible for it.”

Associated Press: “The U.S. has exported many forms of energy for decades, while importing even more. And it’s not true that the U.S. has become a net exporter of energy. The U.S. Energy Information Agency projects that the U.S. will start exporting more energy than it imports in the next decade, primarily because of a boom in oil and gas production that began before Trump’s presidency.”

FactCheck.org: “[Trump] suggested, misleadingly, that his administration was responsible for the U.S. becoming the world’s top producer of oil and natural gas. But the U.S. has been No. 1 in the world for natural gas for more than a decade, and tops in petroleum since 2013.”

FACT: For most of Trump’s term in office, the U.S. consumed more energy than it produced and was reliant on Russian oil. 

Politifact: “In the first five months of 2019, the United States used more energy than it produced.”

FactCheck.org: “[Trump] also said the U.S. should ‘start producing’ as it did in 2020, rather than ‘buying Russian energy.’ If he was referring to oil, the U.S. was buying from Russia in 2020, and for many years before.”

FACT: Republicans’ concept of true “energy independence” isn’t possible in today’s global market, and their whole line of attack is a lie. 

Politico: “Republicans seize on Ukraine to attack Biden’s climate policies. But the facts are against them.”

New York Times: “While the United States is now the world’s biggest producer of oil and natural gas, energy prices and supplies still move up and down based on events outside the control of Washington or the American oil industry.”

Bloomberg: “So no, gasoline prices aren’t high right now because Joe Biden ‘destroyed American energy dependence.’ They’re high mainly because the collapse in energy demand at the beginning of the pandemic caused oil producers around the world to cut back on pumping and investment.”

###