Biden’s Anti-Oil stance may have Fatally Damaged his Campaign

Last week’s U.S. Presidential debate was full of memorable and informative moments, but if you didn’t watch to the end you may have missed the moment Democrat Presidential candidate Joe Biden gave a damning answer on the American oil & gas industry. 

Responding to the clear question posed to Biden and moderator Kirsten Welker by President Trump, “Would he close down the oil industry? Would you close down the oil industry?” Biden responded: “I would transition from the oil industry, yes.”

It cannot be understated just how shocking this is, and in the moment President Trump, never one to pull punches, seemed at a loss for words. Additionally the moderator even appeared shocked by Biden’s answer as she was heard to say: ‘Why would you do that?’ Unmistakably in disbelief. 

Biden’s statement was remarkable because it certainly damaged his Nov. 3rd chances in several oil-producing swing states, including Pennsylvania which prior to the debate was trending towards Biden. 

Pennsylvania has long been considered to be a solid Democrat state, although flipped Republican for Trump in 2016. Biden was considered to be strong in Pennsylvania, considering he was originally born there and with a sizeable 20 electoral votes at stake, this is something in Joe’s favour if 2020 were to be a tight vote. 

Pennsylvania is however a major oil & gas producing state, so the commitment by Biden to transition off of oil has probably critically damaged him there. 

Texas is another state the Democratic party was hoping to activate, perhaps not in 2020, but within the next decade, but these anti-oil comments have probably also critically set back the DNC’s hopes in that state, potentially long term. 

The unfortunate part for Biden and the Democrats is that old Joe actually didn’t need to answer the question. It was a baiting question posed by Trump, not the moderator and Joe fell for it worse than Trump could’ve probably hoped. 

Biden’s campaign must be aware of this and even though his media allies at the NY Times, Washington Post, The Guardian and others rushed to downplay the comments, anyone with any political savvy understands the massive damage Biden has just dealt himself. 

It’s unfortunate for Biden on another level because the Obama-Biden administration actually had a decent record on oil & gas. The later years of the Obama Administration saw the lifting of significant environmental regulations which had put the breaks on fracking development in the U.S. until then.  This had the effect of causing a U.S. oil industry boom from 2015 to 2017, which the Trump administration has built upon and accelerated to the present day.

Only when we consider the success of the U.S. oil industry saw with Obama-Biden can the scope of this recent disastrous anti-oil comment by Biden be fully realized. All Biden needed to do was discuss his own success in this area, and he would’ve probably done fine, but he instead talks of returning the U.S. to the Paris Climate accords. 

It is true that Obama-Biden stabbed their environmentalist/green allies in the back when they allowed heavy fracking development from 2013 to 2017, so watching Biden attempt to pivot back to 2008 green talking points is truly pathetic. 

Biden’s former green supporters shouldn’t trust him and now neither should the oil industry, who might’ve been considering their options with Trump or Biden, up till now at least – A truly catastrophic play Joe. Badly done. 

While murdering the national oil & gas industry might be an election winning promise in Canada, Biden’s expected to pay at the ballot box for these comments.