Donald Trump’s former energy secretary on Sunday attacked the Biden administration’s energy policies, linking them to inflation and claiming that restrictions on the U.S. oil industry and rising costs at home could lead to “disaster.”
Energy prices have leaped globally in the last three months. Natural gas has soared almost 600% this year, and international oil benchmark Brent crude is up more than 60% year to date. Currently, crude is hovering around $82 per barrel.
“The Biden administration’s restrictive actions — no to pipelines, no to drilling, no to the financing of oil and gas projects overseas … is a stunning reversal of the energy independence achieved under the Trump administration,” Rick Perry told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble.
The United States never stopped importing oil during the Trump administration, though domestic production rose. On a monthly basis, U.S. production edged higher than consumption during most of 2019 and 2020, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
But the most recent EIA data shows that pattern continuing after Biden became president in 2021, including U.S. exports of energy continuing to exceed imports.
As gas prices have risen in the United States, the Biden White House has pressured OPEC and its oil-producing allies including Russia to accelerate plans to increase output. But that group, called OPEC+, last week said it would stick with its plan to increase output by 400,000 barrels per day starting in December.
“The potential for disaster is very real, both in a national security standpoint, and whether or not we literally can keep the lights on,” Perry said.
Perry oversaw pro-oil industry policies during his time at the Department of Energy. A former governor of Texas, he has close ties to the Texas oil industry and has held leadership roles on the boards of two petroleum companies.
The inflation problem
Aside from pressuring OPEC to produce more oil, U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm has pushed the Biden administration’s plans to develop domestic clean energy, arguing argued that the U.S. should focus on renewable energy as a long-term strategy to ensure the U.S. isn’t “reliant on political adversaries.”
Perry pointed out an apparent contradiction between the Biden administration’s stance on clean energy and its pressure on OPEC+ to produce more oil.
“On the one hand, you’ve got John Kerry, jetting all around the world, lecturing people about the use of fossil fuels, and then you have the Secretary of Energy Mrs. Granholm standing up and begging His Royal Highness Abdulaziz bin Salman to send more crude so we can drive down the cost of gasoline,” Perry said.
“Our people are hurting,” said Perry, citing broadly rising costs in the United States. He added that he thinks “$100 oil within the next six months is possible.”
The White House and U.S. Department of Energy were not immediately available for comment. Granholm acknowledged during the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, that the amount of clean energy that’s available isn’t sufficient to replace fossil fuels. She said a priority for the administration is to ensure Americans can afford to heat their homes and fuel their cars this winter.
Granholm last week hit back after OPEC and its allies decided to continue with their current output plan, adding 400,000 barrels per day each month through to next year.
Asked by CNBC about the United States’ relationship with de-facto OPEC leader Saudi Arabia during the COP26 climate summit, Granholm said: “In some places we have strong relationships, and in some places we wish our allies would move a little faster.”
Strategic Petroleum Reserve?
President Joe Biden blames high costs squarely on OPEC+ countries, while some oil drillers blame restrictions on the fossil fuel industry. Granholm has pointed out that the pandemic slowed U.S. oil and gas investment and drilling.
To combat rising prices, Granholm told Bloomberg in an interview last week that tapping America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve “is certainly on the table as an option.”
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve holds up to 714 million barrels of crude oil. It’s located in sites along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coasts and is the world’s largest backup oil supply. It’s designed as a buffer to protect the United States from a major supply disruption, such as a natural disaster or war.
Perry pointed out that the Strategic Petroleum Reserve isn’t designed for “long-term assistance,” adding that tapping it would be “a fool’s errand.”
“They’re there for a hurricane or some type of a national disaster that occurs,” Perry said. “You go in, you use it, it’s [for] a short period of time,” Perry said, adding, “I don’t know what tools [Biden]’s got in the toolbox. I think he’s making it up as he goes.”
Biden said on Saturday his administration has “other tools” to deal with high oil prices. “There are other tools in the arsenal that we have to deal with other countries at an appropriate time,” he said.
A view of offshore oil and gas platform Esther in the Pacific Ocean on January 5, 2025 in Seal Beach, California.
Mario Tama | Getty Images
President-Elect Donald Trump said Tuesday that he will reverse President Joe Biden‘s ban on offshore drilling along most of the U.S. coastline as soon as he takes office.
“I’m going to have it revoked on day one,” Trump said at a news conference, though he indicated that reversing the ban might require litigation in court.
Biden announced Monday that he would protect 625 million acres of ocean from offshore oil and gas drilling along the East and West coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and Alaska’s Northern Bering Sea. The president issued the ban through a provision of the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.
An order by Trump attempting to reverse the ban will likely end up in court and could ultimately be struck down.
During his first term, Trump tried to issue an executive order to reverse President Barack Obama’s use of the law to protect waters in the Arctic and Atlantic from offshore drilling. A federal court ultimately ruled that Trump’s order was not lawful and reversing the ban would require an act of Congress.
The Republican Party has a majority in both chambers of the new Congress.
Chinese EV Automaker ZEEKR is marking its third consecutive presence on the display floors of CES. During this year’s event, ZEEKR began teasing at least three new models scheduled to launch in 2025, some of which will feature an NVIDIA DRIVE Thor-based smart driver domain controller. In addition to those codenamed models, ZEEKR is also planning to launch another NVIDIA DRIVE Thor-equipped EV called “RT” in the US to be used by robotaxi developer Waymo.
ZEEKR wasted no time touting its latest EV and autonomous driving technology at CES 2025, which kicked off in Las Vegas earlier this week. As noted above, 2025 marks ZEEKR’s third consecutive participation in the annual tech event, which is notable considering the company was founded less than four years ago.
During last year’s event, ZEEKR showcased its 007, which had just launched in China days before. It offers a 540-mile range and a starting price below $30,000. At CES 2023, ZEEKR made its public debut in the US, showcasing its flagship 001 shooting brake and a purpose-built EV designed for robotaxi network Waymo, which we saw up close later that fall.
The Waymo BEV has become known as the ZEEKR RT, which is mentioned alongside several exciting announcements that the Chinese automaker teased last month.
ZEEKR shares plans for new models, plus Waymo BEVs
ZEEKR kicked off CES 2025 today with news of a new domain controller built using NVIDIA’s DRIVE Thor next-generation centralized computer. NVIDIA unveiled DRIVE Thor in the fall of 2022, announcing ZEEKR as its first customer and initial production of vehicles featuring the technology planned for early 2025.
As such, ZEEKR is hailing itself as the first OEM to integrate NVIDIA’s next-gen system-on-chip (SoC) into a domain controller to handle a wide range of smart driving, autonomous scenarios, and parking functions. Per NVIDIA during the DRIVE Thor debut, the computer “achieves up to 2,000 teraflops of performance, unifies intelligent functions — including automated and assisted driving, parking, driver and occupant monitoring, digital instrument cluster, in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) and rear-seat entertainment — into a single architecture for greater efficiency and lower overall system cost.”
As NVIDIA’s first DRIVE Thor customer, ZEEKR said its domain controller will soon be mass-produced and integrated into a new large SUV model to be launched this year. That SUV will be one of three new BEVs ZEEKR plans to launch in 2025. According to ZEEKR CEO Andy An, those vehicles have been internally codenamed “EX,” “DX,” and “CC.”
In addition to those passenger EVs in the works, ZEEKR shared that its RT van, based on the MIX and explicitly designed as a robotaxi for Waymo, is undergoing real-world testing and is expected to arrive as the world-first mass-produced purpose-built vehicle for autonomous rides.
ZEEKR RT deliveries to Waymo are expected later this year for further testing ahead of a future public robotaxi network launch. If that happens, ZEEKR could become the first Chinese EV brand to enter the US market, although it’s a bit of a loophole.
ZEEKR’s 009 MPV, MIX van, and 001 FR shooting brake are on display at CES at booth #5640 in the West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center. Go check them out.
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How about a new EV with your next Amazon order? As the first brand to sell vehicles on Amazon, Hyundai says, “You’re gonna need a bigger cart.” Hyundai is now selling cars directly on Amazon, including popular EVs like the IONIQ 5. Here’s how you can snag one.
How can you buy Hyundai EVs directly on Amazon?
Buying a new Hyundai is now as easy as adding it to your next Amazon order. However, you might need a bigger cart.
Amazon revealed plans to expand into vehicle sales in 2023, starting with Hyundai. After making it official at the 2023 LA Auto Show, Hyundai began selling vehicles on the platform just before the end of 2024.
Buying a new vehicle on Amazon Auto is as easy as buying a new laptop or outfit. You can browse through available Hyundai vehicles near you, secure financing, checkout, and schedule a pick-up time directly using Amazon’s trusted platform.
You can easily find the vehicle you’re looking for with the option to sort by model, trim, color, features, and more. After you find it, you can secure financing, sign the paperwork electronically, and complete the process in just a few clicks.
The best part is the haggle-free pricing. What you see at checkout is the price you will pay. Once finalized, you can pick the day and time to pick up your new ride at a local dealership.
If you have a trade-in, you can get an instant quote by answering a few questions and uploading images of the car. Then, you can apply the credit toward your new vehicle on Amazon Autos. When you go to pick up your new vehicle, the dealership will be ready for it.
Hyundai plans to expand the program by adding more dealers throughout the year and offering more leasing and financing options. On the Amazon Auto website, you can view Hyundai vehicles at participating dealers near you.
You can already find top-selling Hyundai EVs on Amazon Auto, including the updated 2025 IONIQ 5 and IONIQ 6. With new models, like the three-row IONIQ 9 rolling out, expect to see more EVs available soon.
The new IONIQ 5 starts at $42,500. With a bigger (84 kWh) battery, the updated model has a range of 318 miles, up from 303 miles in the outgoing IONIQ 5. It also has an NACS port, so it can be charged at Tesla Superchargers.
After kicking off production at its new EV plant in Georgia late last year, Hyundai’s electric vehicles now qualify for the $7,500 EV tax credit for the first time.
For those of you who don’t have access to the program yet, we’ve got you covered. With the new 2025 models rolling out, Hyundai is offering 2024 IONIQ 5 SUVs for next to nothing while they are still in stock. You can use our links below to find the best deals on Hyundai EV models in your area.
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