For most of the past decade, U.S. energy production thrived. Our domestic oil and gas industry unlocked massive new resources through hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. Renewable electricity options like wind and solar expanded beyond expectations to assume a greater role in our power system and drive down costs.
The benefits were multiple: some of the lowest energy prices in the developed world, making energy more affordable at the gas pump and at home, a strengthened U.S. manufacturing capacity and declining domestic greenhouse gas emissions as the nation transitioned from coal toward natural gas and renewable energy.
This happy period was short-lived, however. COVID-19 wreaked havoc on global markets, forcing the oil and gas industry to retrench dramatically. Russia’s war on Ukraine further tightened global oil and gas supplies. Meanwhile,…