OPINION:
Gas and diesel prices began to fall this week, but naturally, Democrats are still hypocritically squawking about “affordability” on the campaign trail, with midterm elections less than a month away.
The cost of fuel is key to the left’s political messaging today, even though anyone with common sense knows that the Democrats are the last people who should ever be allowed to direct our national energy policy.
Just this week, they proved themselves unserious on the issue of fuel prices and the war in Iran. President Trump told an audience that he attacked Iran so that it would not be able to hit American cities with nuclear weapons, and that a temporary increase in the cost of fuel is a small price to pay for that security.
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Democrats clipped a portion of the remarks to lift it out of context, spreading the lie that Mr. Trump had casually invited the Iranians to attack.
They are also completely dishonest about their view of rising gas and diesel prices as they campaign for office. In fact, as I have written before, high prices are a policy goal for leftists because they do not want people using fossil fuels at all.
This is well documented. To see it for yourself, just watch how they behave when they have power.
On President Biden’s first day in office, he attacked the domestic production of energy, killed the Keystone XL pipeline and began a sustained assault on our natural resources that thrilled radical environmentalists but cooked the economy for everyone else.
It was also a political millstone for Democratic candidates, but now they understand the politics of it.
Leftist media outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post and Politico have all observed that Democratic candidates for office do not mention climate change very much anymore — and they certainly do not talk about attacking industry, for fear of rattling blue-collar workers.
It is like ’Fight Club,’ only for climate change. The first rule of climate change strategy is to never talk about climate change strategy.
They let the lawyers and the courts do their dirty work for them.
On Monday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case originating in Boulder, Colorado, in which activists in local government are suing energy companies for alleged costs of combating climate change in their communities.
In essence, they want oil companies to pay for their leftist wish list of projects as punishment for the permitted, legal production of the energy that makes the U.S. economy operate.
Justice Clarence Thomas asked the central question of the environmental plaintiffs: “If you prevail, is there a limiting principle as to whom you can sue?”
In the view of the environmental left, of course, there is no limit.
That means the leftists want to sue everybody who enters their field of vision, as well as quite a few folks who do not. Imagine expanding these lawsuits to include fuel retailers, service station chains or any industry that the left thinks it can scapegoat over climate hysteria, such as large agriculture companies or cattle farmers.
As we all know, leftists do not possess the trait that would allow them to contain their excesses.
Left unchecked, they would cause widespread bankruptcies across multiple sectors of the economy, resulting in a financial catastrophe for the entire planet.
One hopes that the Supreme Court will issue the legally correct opinion and prevent the punishment of companies for their lawful practices. Yet even if it does, the left will never stop looking for ways around it.
Legislation would be a more permanent and sturdy fix, which is why the Stop Climate Shakedowns Act of 2026 is an important law to pass. Sponsored by Rep. Harriet Hageman, Wyoming Republican and a client of my public affairs firm, and Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican, the bill would block climate lawsuits that seek to punish lawful activities.
It would also outlaw state superfund laws that seek to squeeze cash from companies under the same pretexts as the lawsuits.
The bill still awaits action, and it looks as if it will have to be reintroduced when the next Congress convenes in January.
Make no mistake about it, though. This legislation stands a chance of passing only if both chambers of Congress have Republican majorities. If Democrats are in charge anywhere along the way, it will be doomed because its purpose is to stop them from pursuing their ideology to its logical conclusion.
If, for no other reason than this — though there are millions of others — Republicans must retain control of Congress in the midterms, and Democrats must be forever kept as far away from energy policy as possible.
• Tim Murtaugh is a Washington Times columnist and founder of Line Drive Public Affairs. He served as a senior adviser on the 2024 Trump campaign and as communications director on the 2020 Trump campaign.
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