Fmr. Dem Sen. Heitkamp: Biden Sending ‘Mixed Messages’ on Energy by Saying We’ll Eliminate Oil in a Decade, Demanding More Production

On Monday’s broadcast of CNBC’s “Last Call,” former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) stated that “we’re getting mixed messages at the highest level” on energy because President Joe Biden “says we’re not going to need oil in ten years, but yet, there is more pressure from the administration on the domestic oil industry.”

After host Brian Sullivan mentioned Saudi Arabia might think there are mixed signals from the U.S., Heitkamp responded, “Well, can you blame them? Because we’re getting mixed messages at the highest level. We find out that the President says we’re not going to need oil in ten years, but yet, there is more pressure from the administration on the domestic oil industry. The problem is, that you’re trying to serve two masters. And the real service that we should have is to the American public, the American consumers. Be honest about where we are on energy transition, make sure we’re doing it the right way, because we know that the oil that we produce is produced with much less carbon. Let’s just — let’s be realistic and put all that aside. Interestingly, another message that was sent was opening up more areas in the national oil preserve up in Alaska, could be a huge amount of oil being produced and moved out of Alaska in the next ten years. And so, we’ve got to get our messages straight. We’ve got to be able to stand up and basically tell people the truth and have a long-range policy, so OPEC knows, but also our American consumers know.”

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