Endorsing Donald Trump for Re-election (American Energy Alliance on the record)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- August 20, 2020

“The U.S. is now world leader in both natural gas and oil production, and for the first time in nearly sixty years, we can claim net energy exporter status. This is energy dominance realized.” – AEA Endorsement

“The American Energy Alliance’s endorsement of President Trump’s re-election is a testament to the Trump Administration’s historic actions to secure more prosperity for American families and businesses through pro-energy policy reforms.” (Trump/Pence Re-election Campaign)

Never has a U.S. President encountered such intellectual disdain and political bias toward consumer-chosen, taxpayer-neutral natural gas, oil, and coal–the mineral energies required by modern life. And never has a U.S. President pushed back in both rhetoric and action.

That president is Donald Trump, who easily goes down as the most free-market-oriented leader in energy history, easily beating out Ronald Reagan in his two terms. [1]

Reagan, the only real contender to Trump, did reverse the public policies of Jimmy Carter and the depletion doom of the intelligentsia. But it was Carter, not Reagan, who brokered the phase-out of price and allocation controls, which Reagan accelerated/ended upon taking office. Such decontrol (per Carter and Congress) came with a Windfall Profit Tax, which Reagan quietly backed in order to collect needed revenue for government spending elsewhere. (It was repealed when lower oil prices ended its collection.)

Reagan failed to keep his campaign promise to eliminate the US Department of Energy, and he bullishly filled the Strategic Petroleum Reserve on the false theory that a third oil crisis was ahead. (It never came due to the Carter/Reagan decontrol.)

And don’t reach back to other Presidents such as the Bush 2, Bush 1, Gerald Ford, and Dwight Eisenhower. Bad energy things happened on each of their watches, a story for another day.

Celebrate the present, the Trump energy present. An endorsement from the American Energy Alliance (the advocacy arm of the Institute for Energy Research), reprinted below, inspired this press release from the Trump/Pence campaign.

As Joe Biden and the radical left brag about their plans to rob Americans of energy independence and sacrifice hundreds of thousands of blue-collar jobs in pursuit of their unaffordable energy agenda, President Trump is leading the nation towards robust energy dominance.

In just his first term, President Trump has made significant strides in undoing the damage inflicted on the energy industry by the previous administration, allowing the U.S. to become the world’s preeminent energy superpower. 

The American Energy Alliance’s endorsement of President Trump’s re-election is a testament to the Trump Administration’s historic actions to secure more prosperity for American families and businesses through pro-energy policy reforms.

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AEA Letter of Endorsement

August 14, 2020
President Donald J. Trump
c/o Donald Trump 2020
Trump Towers
725 5th Ave
New York, NY 10022

Dear Mr. President,
On behalf of American Energy Alliance (AEA), the country’s foremost advocacy organization for pro-consumer, pro-taxpayer, and free-market energy policies, I am writing to you today to endorse your re-election for President of the United States.

Like our grassroots supporters across the nation, you understand that a vibrant, robust American energy industry is the key to a strong economy. Affordable and reliable domestic energy means more prosperity for American families and more opportunity for American business – especially manufacturing. Just as importantly, it means increased security at home and enhanced influence around the world. Mr. President, your vision and the policy reforms put forth by your administration during your first term made our endorsement an easy choice. The contrasting vision of your opponent made it even easier.

The Trump energy platform has given American businesses the confidence to maximize their potential and deliver citizens both here at home and across the globe access to affordable, reliable American-made energy. During your first four years in office, the U.S. has become the world’s preeminent energy superpower. From 2016 to last year, oil production on a daily barrel basis climbed by more than 35 percent, from 8.8 million barrels per day to over 12 million barrels per day. The U.S. is now world leader in both natural gas and oil production, and for the first time in nearly sixty years, we can claim net energy exporter status. This is energy dominance realized.

Among some of the actions that have best demonstrated this commitment include:

1. The notice of intent to withdraw the United States from the lopsided and ineffective Paris Agreement on climate change.
2. The finalization of the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule – replacing the prior administration’s overreaching Clean Power Plan (CPP) with a rule that restores the rule of law and empowers states to continue to reduce emissions while providing affordable and reliable energy for all Americans.
3. The implementation of the Safer Affordable Fuel Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule demonstrating auto fuel efficiency standards can benefit consumers and automakers simultaneously.
4. Revoking the Obama administration’s decision to allow California to set fuel mandates and environmental policy for the rest of the nation.
5. Approving the Keystone XL pipeline rejected by Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
6. The Executive Order to expedite construction project permits of highways, mines, pipelines and other infrastructure projects.
7. Overhauling the Waters of the United States rule.
8. Increasing the transparency and efficiency of the Clean Water Act certification process for pipeline infrastructure projects ensuring that Americans have clean water for drinking and recreation.
9. Leading efforts to modernize the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), something that no other president has been willing to even attempt.
10. Establishing the “one in, two out” directive requiring agencies to identify at least two existing regulations to be repealed when proposing new rules.

These achievements, just to name a few, stand in stark contrast to the “keep it in the ground” energy platform of your Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, and his running mate, Kamala Harris.

A Biden-Harris administration would take choices away from energy users and producers and rob America of its only recently achieved energy independence. Key aspects of the Trump energy renaissance, namely the continued expansion of fracking and access to federal lands and waters, would come to a halt in a Biden-Harris administration.

Mr. President, the American Energy Alliance values the work you have done to free American energy in your first term and we offer you our full endorsement for re-election. AEA believes that a second Trump term would cement your presidency as the most pro-energy in U.S. history.

Sincerely,
Thomas J. Pyle, President, American Energy Alliance

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[1] For a review of Reagan’s energy policies from a free-market perspective, see Robert Bradley, “Energy Policy: A Few Bright Spots.” In David Boaz, ed. Assessing the Reagan Years (Cato: 1988), pp. 305–19.