- Trump vs. Biden: a promising contest when it comes to oil and energy, pompous fundraising events, and pointing fingers.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump managed to raise tens of millions of dollars during a fundraising swing through Texas this week. He also promised he would support the oil and gas industry by backing new pipelines and restoring fracking on federal land. Trump also courted support from the energy industry with a pro-fossil fuel and anti-regulation agenda.
He also constantly criticized President Biden’s policies to accelerate the energy transition toward a low-carbon economy. The oil and gas industry has definitely boomed under Biden, with increased regulation and a climate-focused administration making record profits and pumping more oil and gas than ever before.
The industry continuously pushed back against Biden’s ban on fracking federal land and a recent halt in approving brand new gas export facilities. A Houston fundraiser on Wednesday was hosted by oil tycoons Jeff Hildebrand, founder of Hilcorp Energy, the largest closely held U.S. oil firm; George Bishop, founder of GeoSouthern Energy; Harold Hamm, founder of Continental Resources; and Kelcy Warren, head of pipeline firm Energy Transfer Partners.
Trump even managed to draw standing ovations when he promised to get more natural gas pipelines built if he gets re-elected and also to restore fracking to areas barred under Biden.
There are many oil and gas pipelines that got delayed or even abandoned under both his and Biden’s administrations, citing community opposition, legal challenges, and lengthy permit processes.
According to Mark Carr, a Houston entrepreneur, Trump will do everything in his power to get energy going again in the United States. Trump also stated that America needs to quit taking Venezuelan “tar” oil and instead just use American oil.
The United States also resumed limited imports of Venezuelan crude under Biden for processing in U.S. refineries. Trump also put emphasis on tax cuts for the industry, “streamlining” the permitting process, and deciding to remove some regulations.
The Houston fundraiser was held by the Trump 47 Committee, a fundraising tie-up between his campaign, the Republican National Committee, and a fundraising group that spent tens of millions of dollars on Donald Trump’s legal fees, as well as a raft of Republican state parties.
The Houston luncheon and another, more intimate roundtable with 45 executives were then followed by a grand fundraising event in Dallas. One of Trump’s campaign officials stated that the Texas swing brought in a minimum of $15 million.
Two other sources told Reuters that the various Texas events were around $40 million, but this number is yet to be confirmed. After a raft of quite high-dollar donor events all over the country, Trump overtook Biden in fundraising last month for the first time.
In the meantime, the U.S. Senate Finance and Budget Committee on Thursday launched another investigation into Trump’s reported offer to roll back a couple of environmental regulations in exchange for $1 billion in campaign contributions.
This investigation followed after one of the best Democratic lawmakers on a U.S. House oversight panel got in contact with nine oil companies, asking about reports about “quid pro quo propositions” that the former president might have made.
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