Sisyphus is fated forever to roll a boulder up a hill, only to have it roll down again just as he reaches the top. Who hasn’t had a similar experience of having to repeat an arduous task that seemed to have been accomplished, or almost done?
The great thing about myths and fables is that they encapsulate truths about human experience, such as the fact that life is a struggle that never ends. A battle may be won, or lost, but the war continues.
Such is the war on fossil fuels. The energy independence that the previous presidential administration achieved for our country, to the great benefit of our economy and our national security, is now in jeopardy once again.
The opposition to fossil fuels that some of our fellow citizens may endorse sincerely nevertheless redounds to the benefit of foreign interests with energy assets of their own and threatens to put our nation in a position of dependence once again, thanks to the initiatives of the newly installed government: Obama 2.0.
“The Biden administration continues to sidestep Congress and enact executive orders that kill American jobs and attack our natural gas and oil industries,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, co-sponsor of the Protecting our Wealth of Energy Resources (POWER) Act of 2021, which would bar the president and his minions from blocking energy or mineral leases and permits on federal lands and waters without Congressional consent.
“As our country continues to battle COVID-19, actions like this further deplete energy sectors in need of relief,” carped Capito, “and put our energy independence in jeopardy.”
Capito described the bill as “a needed check on the executive branch,” ensuring that vital decisions about energy independence are “subject to debate in Congress and not rashly signed into action. We must continue to advocate for the families across America who are at risk of losing their livelihood and income in the middle of a pandemic.”
Yes, we must continue. We’d thought we’d won, and we had. But now, the war is on again.