Mainly clear. Low 77F. Winds light and variable..

Mainly clear. Low 77F. Winds light and variable.

Recently, the Senate and House passed an energy, tax and health care bill called the Inflation Reduction Act that, among other things, invests in clean energy infrastructure and other climate-focused initiatives.

And while most are in agreement that the United States should lead the world in the development of clean energy technologies, we must also recognize that our current energy situation requires the prioritization of securing energy supplies and keeping global energy markets free and open to lower costs for consumers.

As a fuel products retailer in the Glendale-Phoenix area, I see firsthand how government policies that restrict the energy supply or try to pick winners and losers among our energy resources can harm communities in the form of increased energy costs. When the cost of energy goes up, costs in other sectors like retail, manufacturing and construction follow because it is suddenly more expensive for those businesses to operate.

In my view, the best things we can do to ease the burden of high energy costs and inflation on families and businesses across Arizona are to increase production of all of our abundant energy resources, reduce the regulatory burdens on energy producers and suppliers, and support and participate in a robust global energy trade.

First, we need government to get out of the business of picking winners and losers when it comes to energy sources. And that means we must first acknowledge that when it comes to energy sources, this isn’t a sporting event that needs to have a winner and a loser. We can pursue multiple avenues of energy production. In fact, a diverse energy supply is a great way to achieve true energy security.

Some regions of the country are well suited for the development of wind and solar energy. But many are not, at least not as far as providing commercial scale power. Those places may need to have an energy mix that relies more on our abundant fossil fuel supplies. But one thing is clear: Our modern society requires more and more energy every day. And that is not going to change anytime soon. So we need to produce more of it.

One immediate thing we can do to boost the availability of energy resources is to reduce the regulatory burdens on energy producers and suppliers. Even the Biden administration’s clean energy agenda could be snarled in bureaucratic delays caused by overzealous federal regulators. Likewise, pipelines and other needed energy infrastructure upgrades are delayed for years while various government agencies take their shots at private companies seeking to do nothing more than provide critical energy supplies to people who need them.

This is a real problem because the uncertainty hanging over the industry discourages investment and innovation. Simply put, people are not going to take risks or pursue novel new energy technologies if they are constantly wondering if they are going to be regulated out of business.

Finally, policymakers in the United States must ensure our participation in a robust global energy trade. It is no secret that global markets, especially the oil markets, work best when they operate free from protectionist taxes and restrictive policies that ban exports. More energy products flowing around the globe will not only help reduce costs, it will lessen the influence of actors like OPEC and countries like Russia that seek to use energy supplies as a means of extracting geopolitical influence over import-reliant nations. The United States, due to our abundance of oil and gas resources, has a chance to lead the world in global energy trade and we should take advantage of the opportunity.

We are at a critical juncture for the future direction of energy in the United States. The lesson we should take from our own recent brush with sky-high gas prices, and the massive energy cost increases hitting Western Europe right now, is that we should reduce harmful regulations on the energy sector and empower the production of all American energy sources. Such an approach will allow us to provide energy reliability and affordability to our citizens here at home and our trade partners around the world.

Chris Bjurlin is the owner of Snax! Chevron and CB Consulting, which specializes in gas station and car wash management and design consulting.