The importance of the Texas oil and gas industry was hard to miss during the first Republican presidential debate.
It didn’t take long for top contenders on Wednesday night to champion the oil and gas industry, while raising doubts about President Joe Biden’s green energy programs.
“We’re going to open up all energy production, we will be energy dominant again in this country,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said within minutes of the debate starting.
Not long after that, Ohio businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, who has climbed into the top three in many public polls among GOP voters, made a vocal declaration of support for the industry.
“This isn’t that complicated guys: unlock American energy. Drill, frack, burn coal, embrace nuclear,” he said to a roar of the crowd in Wisconsin, later adding that fossil fuels are a “requirement for human prosperity.”
The focus on oil and gas jobs is particularly critical in a Texas GOP primary. While the state’s economy has diversified over the decades, the industry directly employs more than 480,000 Texans, according to the Texas Oil & Gas Association.
Though the number of oil jobs has risen over the last year along with wages, Republicans have repeatedly presented Biden as a threat to the industry.
When Biden took office, Texas had 161 oil rigs in operation in the state according to Baker Hughes. Now, more than 300 rigs are in operation.
Still, former President Donald Trump, who skipped the debate, was among those warning during the 2020 campaign that Biden was trying to shut down oil and gas.
Though Trump did not attend Wednesday's debate, his campaign sent out a video about his support for the oil industry within minutes of DeSantis’s declaration.
“When I’m back in the White House I will bring back a pro-American energy policy,” Trump said, adding that he would eliminate any regulations hampering domestic production.
Other candidates in the debate took more direct aim at green energy policies promoted by the Biden administration, namely the push for electric vehicles. Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum both warned electric cars help China because they produce more than half of the batteries that power them.
“If we’re going to stop buying oil from the Middle East and start buying batteries from China we’re just trading OPEC for Sino-OPEC,” Burgum said.
Haley said climate change is real, but Biden is addressing it in the wrong way.
“The green subsidies that Biden has put in, all he’s done is help China,” Haley said. “You’re putting money in China’s pocket.”
Biden’s team on Wednesday made a preemptive strike before the debate, defending his clean energy initiatives.
“Our clean energy tax incentives will help make clean energy jobs good-paying and union jobs. We’re already seeing it. Laborers and carpenters building solar farms. Ironworkers and operating engineers building wind projects. Electricians installing solar panels and EV chargers,” Biden said on social media accounts.
Later in the debate after Ramasawamy called climate change a hoax, Biden put out social media posts declaring that it is real.
The Texas oil industry has already had a big influence on the race for the GOP nomination, donating big money to some of the top candidates in the race. The latest campaign finance reports show DeSantis has raised more than $2 million out of Texas, including support from Kelcy Warren of Energy Transfer Partners in Dallas, Cody Campbell of Double Eagle Energy Company in Fort Worth and S. Javaid Anwar of Midland Energy. All have given the maximum $3,300 allowable in the primary, and all have supported Trump’s past campaigns.
Haley has also done well with Texas donors, raising more than $1.6 million, including donations from Anwar and other oil interests.
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August 25, 2023 at 03:37AM
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Texas oil and gas loom large over first 2024 GOP presidential debate - Houston Chronicle
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