‘Biden didn’t do our nation a service by reneging’

Editor:

President Biden didn’t do our nation a service by reneging on his promise to be a transitional president. He didn’t do our nation a service by staying in office when, I suppose, he and those around him knew he wasn’t fit for office. He didn’t do our nation a service by not giving Democrats time to select a candidate who had the best chance of defeating Trump. He didn’t do our nation a service allowing so many people to enter our country illegally. However, it is past time to continue blaming Biden for today’s problems, as did Mr. Tom Marshall recently, in this newspaper. I would like answer his “Economics 101” questions:

“Who killed the Keystone pipeline on Day 1?” The Obama and Trump administrations recognized Keystone would transfer tar sands sludge across the United States from Canada to the Gulf Coast for processing and sale on the global market, having no appreciable effect on U.S. gasoline prices, and would produce only about 2,000 temporary jobs.

“Who paused new offshore drilling and locked up production in Alaska?” Aside from the fact that in 2020 Trump directed his Interior Secretary to ban drilling off both Florida coasts, not far from Mar-a-Lago, the 625 million acres along the east coast had little, if any, oil and gas development and none planned for the next five-year period. As for the 44 million acres off the coast of Alaska, the same holds true, in addition to the decades-old advocacy by Native Alaskan peoples to protect their livelihoods.

“Who drained the Strategic Petroleum Reserve?” While it is true that Biden depleted it more than any other president since its establishment in 1975, Trump is the first Republican president to oversee its reduction. In fact, in June 2026, the SPR was at its lowest level since 1983, as Trump pumped oil to minimize the damage of Trump’s war with Iran (aka Trump’s Folly) on gasoline and diesel prices.

“What administration closed 14 U.S. refineries, removing 1.72 million barrels per day of distillation of gasoline, diesel and heating oil?” This question implies that Biden presided over a reduction in oil refining. In fact, according the U.S. Department of Energy, “Oil refining capacity has been most reduced during President Donald Trump's terms, where the amount of refining capacity lost from shutdowns quadrupled compared to losses under President Biden's term.”

“Who funded Ukrainian drones and missiles that have damaged 32 Russian refineries, disabling 51% of Russian refining capacity of diesel on the world market?”  Aside from the fact that Ukraine targets primarily Russian oil refineries and infrastructure while Russia primarily targets Ukrainian apartment buildings and population centers, and aside from President Trump’s infatuation with Putin, and genuflection to him, experts say that Russian diesel exports have likely been factored into global prices with little effect and that the actual release of available Russian diesel will also have little effect on prices.

If you don’t want to take my word, do your own research. Don’t depend on somebody else to do it for you.