The U.S. is about to set a record for the most oil and gas extraction in its history

Guardian graph, from EIA data

Despite climate goals and lots of talk about the U.S. ending its dependence on fossil fuels, "The United States is poised to extract more oil and gas than ever before in 2023, a year that is certain to be the hottest ever recorded, reports Oliver Milman of The Guardian. "The U.S.’s status as the world’s leading oil and gas behemoth has only strengthened this year, even amid warnings from Joe Biden himself over the unfolding climate crisis, with the latest federal government forecast showing a record 12.9m barrels of crude oil per day, more than double what was produced a decade ago, will be extracted in 2023."

Part of what Americans want is cheaper gas, but that has come at a cost. Milman writes, "The increased fossil fuel production, which Biden championed last year as a way to tamp down gasoline prices for U.S. drivers and to support overseas allies in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, also risks burdening disadvantaged communities living next to polluting infrastructure and threatens to alienate younger, climate-conscious voters ahead of next year’s presidential election, an adviser to the White House has cautioned."

The transition to renewables is hard for Americans to imagine. Nate Hultman, an expert in climate policy at the University of Maryland, told Milman, "We have a dynamic that feels awkward, of how to reconcile the world we are living in, that’s heavily fossil fuel-driven, with the vision of a clean, non-emitting world. That’s the tension.”

Despite the Biden administration's "boost to renewable energy in the U.S., Biden has been handing out oil and gas drilling leases on public lands at a rate comparable to Donald Trump, with the emissions from 17 large projects permitted by his administration," Milman reports.