Biden Says Renewables Need to Replace Oil Industry
(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump seized on Joe Biden’s pledge Thursday to eventually replace fossil fuels with renewable energy, turning the Democratic nominee’s remarks into a warning for swing state voters that oil and gas jobs could be at risk.
Biden’s comment came in response to a question from Trump during Thursday’s debate in Nashville about whether he would shut down the oil industry. The former vice president, in one of his starkest comments of the campaign on the issue, said “I would transition from the oil industry, yes.”
“The oil industry pollutes significantly,” Biden said. “It has to be replaced by renewable energy over time.”
That response carries risk for Biden heading into the final days of the race. For weeks, Biden has been wooing voters in Pennsylvania with assurances that his pledges to ban fracking are limited to federal land and would not amount to a wholesale destruction of the oil and gas sector. He plans to campaign there Saturday.
Trump seized on Biden’s remark.
“Basically what he is saying is he would destroy the oil industry,” Trump said. “Would you remember that Texas? Would you remember that Pennsylvania? Oklahoma, Ohio?”
Trump, meanwhile, sought to portray himself as an oil industry savior, boasting about his efforts in the spring to broker a global crude output cut as the coronavirus pandemic collapsed fuel demand.
“We saved our oil industry,” Trump boasted, and it’s “vibrant.”
Trump was trying to recreate a moment in 2020 that he used to advantage in 2016, when Hillary Clinton said, “We’re going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business.”
Biden’s climate plan aims to remove greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. electricity generation by 2035 -- a target that favors emission-free wind, solar and nuclear power, while leaving little room for natural gas-fired power plants, unless they are outfitted with expensive carbon-capture technology.
After the debate, Biden sought to downplay his on-stage comment, emphasizing that the fossil fuel industry wouldn’t “be gone” until 2050, and that oil workers are “not going to lose their jobs.” Instead, he stressed, his plan would mean “a lot more jobs are going to be created in other alternatives.”
“But we’re not going to get rid of fossil fuels for a long time,” he told reporters as he prepared to depart Nashville.
Two Democrats in toss-up races distanced themselves from the comments.
Representative Kendra Horn, the incumbent in an Oklahoma swing district President Trump carried in 2016, and Xochitl Torres Small, who’s in a toss-up race in New Mexico, both took exception to what Biden said.
12
View Full Article
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.
- Brand Finance Ranks Most Valuable, Strongest Oil and Gas Brands
- Canacol Makes New Gas Discovery in Colombia's Magdalena Basin
- Egypt Plans to Meet Summer Fuel Needs with LNG Imports
- FortisBC Denies Gas Greenwashing as Suit Awaits
- Credit Agricole Helps NGP Secure Funds for Fishery-Solar Projects in Taiwan
- Oil and Gas Executives Predict WTI Oil Price
- Industry Protests Proposed Methane Fee Guidelines for O&G Facilities in US
- Exxon, Cnooc Merge Guyana Arbitration Claims Against Chevron
- New China Climate Chief Says Fossil Fuels Must Keep a Role
- Oil Demand Outpaces Expectations, Testing Calculus on Peak Crude
- House Passes Protecting American Energy Production Act
- TotalEnergies Restarts Production in Denmark's Biggest Gas Field
- Republican Lawmakers Say IEA Has Abandoned Energy Security Mission
- USA Oil and Gas Job Figures Jump
- Blockchain Demands Attention in Oil and Gas
- Macquarie Sees USA Oil Production Exiting 2024 at 14MM Barrels Per Day
- Houthis Warn Saudi Arabia of Retaliation If It Backs USA Attacks
- Summer Pump Prices Set to Hit $4 a Gallon Just as Americans Hit the Road
- New China Climate Chief Says Fossil Fuels Must Keep a Role
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Major Oilfield Discovery
- VIDEO: Missile Attack Kills Crew Transiting Gulf of Aden
- Norway Regulator Blasts Proposal to Halt New Oil and Gas Permits
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Another Major Oilfield Discovery
- What Is the Biggest Risk to Offshore Oil and Gas Personnel in 2024?
- Vessel Sinks in Red Sea After Missile Strike
- Exxon Rights in Stabroek Do Not Apply to Hess Merger with Chevron: Hess
- Equinor Makes Discovery in North Sea
- Analysts Reveal Latest Oil Price Outlook Following OPEC+ Cut Extension