Ah, old habits die hard. Politico apparently learned nothing after being exposed for being a government-funded lefty propaganda mill and is already trying to pin energy inflation on President Donald Trump.
“Electricity prices are spiking. That’s a problem for Trump,” read Politico E&E News’s February 26 agitprop disguised as a news item. “President Donald Trump’s campaign promise to cut energy costs in half is facing a daunting reality,” railed reporter Brian Dabbs.
Dabbs wielded a new report by the anti-Trump American Enterprise Institute (AEI) to drum up newfound media fears that “Electricity prices are tracking toward heights unseen since the 1990s when factoring in inflation,” supposedly due to “skyrocketing demand” of AI data centers, a problem that was already identified under the Biden administration before Trump announced a $500 billion joint venture with tech companies in AI infrastructure.
So all that ballyhoo about the alleged “dream economy” former Vice President Kamala Harris was supposedly riding into the 2024 election just flies out the window now that Trump is president, eh Politico?
Conveniently, Dabbs only briefly mentioned the name “Biden” twice in buried paragraphs, and both instances had nothing to do with attributing responsibility to Trump's predecessor for America's current energy struggles. This is convenient given how much Politico has mindlessly slobbered over Bidenomics over the years. The Center Square pointed out the same day that Dabbs’ piece was published that experts had notified Congress that “Biden policies raised energy prices.” Specifically, experts “pointed to a litany of federal changes that have slowed down domestic energy production and led to increased costs as a result,” Center Square reported.
Former Environmental Protection Agency chief of staff Mandy Gunasekara reportedly told the Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs that under Biden’s administration, “Home heating oil increased 36%, electricity increased 32%, and natural gas increased 25%.” She continued: ‘As a result, one in six American families have been behind on their electricity bills, and the cost for an average household rose approximately $10,000, significantly straining family budgets.”
Did Dabbs bother mentioning any of this context? Nope. Rather, he tried to use the electricity issue to bemoan Trump’s redirection of U.S. energy policy to foster a more pro-fossil fuel friendly economic environment: “Trump so far has cracked down on renewables and blown up U.S. climate policy, arguing that more fossil fuels like natural gas will drive down costs for Americans.” In short, claimed Dabbs, “Clean energy supporters say the Trump administration’s chances at cutting costs are doomed if it pushes fossil-fuel-first priorities.”
Dabbs elevated how "critics say Trump should embrace low-cost wind and solar and dole out rebates for home upgrades if he wants to bring down energy costs."
Climate Depot founder Marc Morano excoriated Politico in comments to MRC Business: "It is completely devoid of reality for Politico to suggest that we continue the futile pursuit of 'green energy' to keep energy prices lower. Fossil fuels actually produce enormous amounts of energy without the need for massive subsidies mandates and banning their competition." Morano then pointed MRC to a February 28 article by fellow leftist outlet Reuters, which made a shocking admission: "The pursuit of net zero carbon emissions has been a resounding failure. Despite trillions of dollars spent on renewable energy, hydrocarbons still account for over 80%, opens new tab of the world’s primary energy and a similar share of recent increases in energy consumption, according to The Energy Institute."
"Perhaps Politico ought to take a look at what Reuters is saying today," Morano quipped.
