President Joe Biden apparently begged the Saudi Arabian government to continue pumping oil, to avoid high prices before the midterm elections. It’s an incredible instance where the party in power was trying to sway or manipulate voters by utilizing the energy abilities of a foreign power.

The announcement of this significant attempt to influence domestic elections was made by the kingdom itself.

The Saudis said in an official statement: “The government of the kingdom clarified through its continuous consultation with the US administration that all economic analysis indicates that postponing the OPEC+ decision by a month, according to what has been suggested, would have had negative economic consequences.”

This follows the decision by the Saudis to reign in the oil production that was requested by the Biden administration. The kingdom has been busy following requests from Western powers to try and ramp up production to offset the costs of relying on Russian oil, due to tense relationship over the conflict in Ukraine.

But the Saudis weren’t interested in producing at a fevered pace and wanted to slow down and allow prices to once again rise. This benefits OPEC countries while leaving the United State and Europe in the lurch.

The administration seemingly has no response to this conundrum, except to continue draining the strategic oil reserve, which is at its lowest level since 1985 and complain that countries are more interested in their own economic situation than propping up the United States.

Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House Press Secretary, is also beginning to use more hardline languagetowards the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Russia. Her statements could prove problematic as Saudi Arabia reassesses its relationship and alliance with the United States.  

Imagine if the war in Ukraine somehow extended globally, and Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s largest oil producers, sided with Russia, another of the world’s largest oil producer. That could happen while the Biden administration is drying the strategic petroleum reserve and continues telling Americans to invest in electric cars when the grid strength and infrastructure isn’t there.

It’s a deeply disturbing prospect. 

It’s a reminder that the aggressive and reckless push towards green energy can have dire and perhaps eventually crippling international and domestic consequences. There’s a way to invest in green energy, while not impacting the United States’ ability to respond if the situation in Ukraine devolves further.

The prospect of Russia using nuclear weapons becomes more and more likely as Vladimir Putin continues to suffer setbacks on the battlefield. A world on the brink isn’t a comforting prospect, especially as it makes America look weak on the international stage.

These issues may seem far away from the relative peace in North Carolina, but the impact of the rising costs, especially gas, continues to hurt families. A breakdown in relations between one of our nation’s most critical oil suppliers, means there’s more pain to come.

There’s also the added concern that the administration was trying to delay this change until after the election, in a vain attempt to try and sway voters to ignore the countries growing economic problems.

As always, the one and only answer for the country is to release the power of the American energy industry. Become energy independence once again, while still promoting and supporting green energy. This reckless approach of going green while much of the country and the world remains depend on oil is rather dangerous.

For more on the rising consumer prices, click here.