Oil industry exec rips Biden admin for ‘throwing wet blankets’ at US energy, ‘hurting’ pocketbooks

After Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry claimed the transition to renewable energy isn’t happening “fast enough,” the executive of an oilfield service company ripped the Biden administration for trying to fix a supply crisis with “virtue signaling.”

“The administration just keeps throwing wet blankets at the industry, death by a thousand cuts,” Canary CEO Dan Eberhart said in an appearance on “Mornings with Maria” Friday. “U.S. oil production is 10% lower than it was during the Trump administration, even with the higher oil price. Why is that? Because the administration is not being helpful and not trying to increase supply, and it’s hurting consumers and they just don’t seem to care.”

The Biden’s administration has been vocal in its support of a green energy future, with climate czar John Kerry noting at a Washington Post event Thursday that nations around the world need to accelerate the transition from fossil fuels to green energy by “vast amounts” in order to stave off the potential future human and financial impacts of climate change

“We can’t run around and do one bespoke deal here, another bespoke deal there – it just isn’t going to be fast enough,” Kerry remarked during the event. “So, everything has to accelerate and by vast amounts.”

JOHN KERRY SAYS GREEN ENERGY TRANSITION ISN’T HAPPENING FAST ENOUGH: ‘EVERYTHING HAS TO ACCELERATE’

“I think what he said is preposterous,” Eberhart said in reaction to the comments. “I’d like to see economic growth six times faster, and I’d like to see construction projects happen 20 times faster. But, look, there’s a difference in politicians and business, and business can only produce so much. And we’ve got to move incrementally. We’ve got to get done what we can get done. In the real world, it takes time to do stuff. It takes resources to do things.”

“It seems tone-deaf to me,” the CEO continued, “at a point when we’re just on the precipice of entering a recession. I think it’s a politician in search of a headline.”

The oil industry exec also responded to the Biden administration claiming U.S. producers have “plenty of opportunities” to drill domestically that they aren’t taking advantage of.

“President Biden has canceled the offshore lease auctions. He stopped fracking on federal land and the permitting process, which is really what’s important, not the leases, the permits are coming out of the administration much slower than they were out of the Trump administration,” Eberhart argued.

Other oil industry leaders have called Biden’s bluff on drilling opportunities, previously slamming the administration’s “completely inaccurate,” “flat-out lie.”

“It’s completely inaccurate. In fact, it’s a flat-out lie,” American Energy Alliance President Tom Pyle had said on “Varney & Co.” “We’ve basically tracked about 125 specific actions that this administration and the Democratic Congress have done to slow down or stop oil production in America… he has an ‘America last’ energy policy.”

Eberhart further called out the Democratic Party for going along with the Biden admin’s “shifting” mood on energy, not realizing the green energy push hurts Americans’ pocketbooks.

“They really want to focus on hitting the oil companies where it hurts and not on what’s best for consumers and what’s best for the economy. To me, it’s virtue signaling and it defies logic,” Eberhart said. “American families are hurting. Inflation is high… those are the things that Americans care about. And energy cost is really at the root of that and the core of that. And the Democrats keep virtue signaling to the progressives, and not focusing on what’s best for the economy and what’s best for middle-class consumers.”

Eberhart also called Biden’s outsourcing for energy supply “absolutely ridiculous,” and encouraged the administration to drill at home.

“The government should really focus on helping America and helping America’s national security position and helping American consumers,” Eberhart said. “The Biden administration, they’re not looking to Texas and North Dakota for more oil. They’re looking to Venezuela, they’re looking to Saudi Arabia. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous being in the oil industry. It absolutely drives me crazy that they don’t look to Texas for more oil, to North Dakota for oil.”

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Fox News’ Thomas Catenacci contributed to this report.