America’s energy dominance is a remarkable achievement

President Trump’s commitment to creating an energy-dominant America continues to roll on at full speed.

In March, the authoritative International Energy Agency forecasted that the United States would surpass Saudi Arabia and Russia to become the world’s largest crude oil producer by 2023. However, there was a major flaw in the IEA’s prediction; it underestimated the United States’ growth rate by five years.

{mosads}The United States has overtaken Saudi Arabia and Russia to become the largest global crude oil producer, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. EIA’s preliminary estimates indicate that, after exceeding the production of Saudi Arabia this year, the United States surpassed Russia in crude oil production in June and August for the first time since early 1999. Now, the United States is the world’s largest producer of crude oil for the first time since 1973, producing nearly 11 million barrels per day.

This is a remarkable, previously unthinkable, achievement for American energy happening under President Trump and a Republican Congress’s leadership. It wasn’t long ago that we all were told energy independence could be achieved only by heavily subsidizing alternative forms of energy.While on the campaign trail in 2012, President Obama avowed, “We can’t just drill our way to lower gas prices.” President Obama wrongly believed that creating an energy independent America required a drastic shift away from oil as a source of energy for Americans. It was the pursuit of this policy that for years hindered the growth of our nation’s energy sector.

Now, we’ve finally recognized the obvious: if we want to achieve true energy independence from hostile foreign governments, we must produce the energy our nation relies on here. By doing so, we’ve learned that we can indeed drill our way to energy independence.

In less than a decade, the United States has become the world’s largest producer of natural gas and crude oil, increasingly less reliant on oil imports from Russia and the OPEC cartel. For those concerned about the boom’s impact on the environment, it should be noted that the United States currently is leading the world in reducing carbon emissions, thanks largely to fracking and clean-burning natural gas.

The economic benefits for Americans are substantial. America’s oil and gas boom is lifting the economy, creating jobs, reducing gas prices for consumers and lowering transportation costs. Americans are noticing the savings at more places than just gas stations. At least 120 utilities across the country are lowering rates for customers, meaning lower electric and gas bills for American families. Parts of the country, like the Permian Basin in Texas, have experienced an explosion of jobs in their communities. As a result of the oil boom, Texas employers added 32,000 jobs in August — the 26th straight month for job growth.

The policy generated by Republicans clearly is helping to aid the boom. President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord alleviated industry concerns of over-regulation, and Republican tax cuts unlocked crucial investment in new energy technology and infrastructure. To be clear, that’s infrastructure spending by private investment, rather than taxpayer dollars.

The best news is that the boom hasn’t reached its peak; the United States is expected to raise crude oil production to 12 million barrels per day by the end of 2019. This will bring more economic benefits while increasing our independence and dominance in the global market.

We should all take a moment to pause and reflect on this milestone for U.S. oil production. Under Republican leadership, America again has become an energy powerhouse.

Mike Palicz is federal affairs manager at Americans for Tax Reform, a nonprofit taxpayer advocacy group.