Biden Still Doesn't Get It on Energy Independence — Why?

It's nearly impossible these days to find a topic on which the American people agree.

From society to politics to culture to religion, Americans of different political parties, ages and races have widely differing views.

Energy independence, however, isn't one of those divisive issues.

According to a new poll from Convention of States Action and the Trafalgar Group, an astounding 77.3% of American voters believe that President Joe Biden should make increasing American energy production a priority.

And when you dive into the details of the poll the consensus of Americans is quite clear.

Among the 77% who want energy independence, 67% are Democrats, 78% are independents, and 89% are Republicans. Over 83% of 18-24-year-olds want energy independence. Three-quarters of American voters over 65 also agree.

Men and women want energy independence — over 75% for both genders. Additionally, vast majorities of all races believe Biden should prioritize increasing America's energy output — Asian 85.3%; Black 63.2%; Hispanic: 68.3%; White: 80.6%.

The only people in America who don't want to ramp up energy production in the wake of the Ukraine-Russia war are the bureaucrats, operatives, and politicians in the Biden administration.

One of Biden's first acts as president was to kill the Keystone pipeline.

When asked about that decision earlier this month, White House press secretary Jen Psaki refused to acknowledge that the president had made a bad move. Instead, she dismissed the idea that Keystone would alleviate the oil shortage and went so far as to claim that "federal policies are not limiting the supplies of oil and gas."

This one doesn't even pass the smell test. The Biden administration has clearly and overtly pushed for "clean energy" to replace fossil fuels, and it has backed up its rhetoric with action.

Early in his presidency, Biden signed an executive order directing the Interior secretary to halt new oil and gas leases and launch a thorough review of existing permits for fossil fuel development.

Last month, it announced it was again delaying decisions on new oil and gas leases.

Biden's supporters have tried to defend the president by pointing to the drilling permits his administration has signed. But here's the trouble: If Biden had signed enough permits to meet the current demand for oil, why have administration officials gone to Venezuela and Saudi Arabia, hat in hand, to ask that they increase production?

What's more, the American people aren't falling for the administration's excuses.

Another recent poll from Convention of States and the Trafalgar Group found that a majority of Americans say that if they have to pay $8 a gallon for gas, then President Biden should resign for his mishandling of America's energy production.

The voters know the truth.

If the president really supports the American oil and gas industry, as he claims, why isn't he working with American companies to immediately increase production?

The fact is, Joe Biden doesn't stand with American oil and gas.

More importantly, he doesn't stand with the American people. When such an overwhelming majority of Americans from all ages, races, and political parties agree on something, the democratically elected president should fall in line.

For a president, and vice president, facing incredibly low approval ratings it would seem that this issue provides a golden opportunity for them to reverse course on a sinking administration.

But that hasn't been the case.

Is President Biden so beholden to the green energy/radical environmentalist lobby that he is forced to jeopardize his legacy and political career, let alone the prospects of his political party in the middle of an election year?

Or is it because the president has a conflict of interest and is compromised in Russia?

Russian oligarch Yelena Baturina, who paid $3.5 million into a bank account associated with Hunter Biden, was not sanctioned along with other oligarchs allied with President Vladimir Putin this month, according to the New York Post.

Or is it both of the above?

It's been claimed/alleged that Russia works with environmental groups in the U.S. to oppose increased oil production. As Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, outlined last week, Russia actively engages with American environmentalist NGOs to maintain dependence on imported Russian oil and gas.

Putin allegedly uses a San Francisco-based NGO called Sea Change to funnel money to other environmental groups like the League of Conservation Voters (LCV), the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and the Sierra Club.

It can be argued that these groups have been among the most vocal opponents of increasing American energy production, and Biden has repeated their talking points about "green energy" more than once throughout his tenure as president.

It's incomprehensible that an American president would be so out of touch on this issue. At best he is contradicting the obvious will of the American people to please his small, radical base. In this regard, does he have less than virtuous motives guiding him?

I don't know what the truth is, but I tend to agree with Joe Rogan about the whole charade: Something stinks in the Biden administration. The American people deserve answers.

Mark Meckler is president of Convention of States. Read Mark Meckler's Reports — More Here.