By Jason Isaac
The Kamala Harris Campaign recently published an image of her with the text, “we are not going back.” Will Democrats seek to replace her or Tim Walz from the ticket as their numbers start to tank? All it may take is another trip to the grocery store or a fill-up at the pump for reality to set back in for Americans excited about her candidacy. Most Americans would certainly like to “go back” to affordable gas prices, groceries, housing, and electricity.
Regardless of the ticket, any Democratic nominee would likely continue down the same policy path that has wrecked the American economy and — perhaps most importantly — dismantled our energy dominance.
Why does energy matter when everyone is talking about inflation, the border, and global conflicts? Because everything we do depends on access to affordable, reliable energy—and that means our next president’s energy policy will shape the future of America and the world. The Democrats’ vision for expensive, scarce, and government-controlled energy, dependent on the whims of the weather, is as reliable as Obamacare is affordable, and it would spell disaster for our nation.
Kamala Harris’ record on energy is clear. She endorsed California’s cap-and-trade carbon tax, co-sponsored the Green New Deal, and cast the tie-breaking vote on the Inflation Reduction Act, which is, as one journalist aptly put it, “the first major climate legislation…EVER!” These are the same policies that have driven California’s energy prices to astronomical levels and have left tens of thousands of people in the dark — literally.
In California last year, 215,000 people had their power disconnected for inability to pay, and over 40,000 of those households still had not had their services restored by year’s end. For those individuals, residential lease and mortgage terms are violated and homeowners insurance policies are canceled because requirements to keep utilities connected aren’t being met. These 40,000 people are at the highest risk of homelessness, all because they couldn’t afford to pay their energy bills.
This is not just a California story — though the numbers are much higher there, it’s a nationwide crisis unfolding under the Democrats’ watch. In California last year, nearly 27% of Californians missed payments on utility bills — compared to 16% nationwide, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey. The previous year saw 5 million Americans receive disconnect notices from their utility companies. The pattern is clear: the Democrats’ energy policies, embraced in California, are making it harder for everyday Americans to keep their lights on.
Under the Trump administration, Americans enjoyed the benefits of a robust energy sector. The United States became a net energy exporter for the first time in decades, and American households saved an average of $2,500 a year on energy costs alone. Today, under the Biden-Harris administration, American families are paying $5,200 more per year, thanks to the Biden-Harris policies that have attacked the energy industry and levied higher costs on everything.
Harris’s stance on fracking is particularly troubling for energy-producing states like New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming as significant portions of their energy are produced on federal lands. In 2019, she unequivocally stated, “There is no question I’m in favor of banning fracking. And, starting with what we can do on day one around public lands, right!” In New Mexico, nearly two-thirds of energy production occurs on federal lands, generating over $6 billion in tax revenue. A Harris administration would be a direct threat to this critical industry, leaving millions unemployed and our nation more dependent on foreign oil.
The consequences would be equally dire in states like Pennsylvania, and Ohio where auto production is a key economic driver. A Harris/Walz regime, with its bureaucratic deep state, would continue to unleash attacks against the energy and auto manufactures in these states. Chinese EV battery maker Gotion has already set up shop in Michigan, claiming U.S. federal and state tax subsidies while also receiving subsidies from the Chinese Communist Party. This is the kind of pro-China double-dealing that is resulting in, as President Trump predicted, a “bloodbath” for the American auto industry.
No wonder President Trump said he was “thrilled” with Tim Walz as Harris’ the VP pick. Not content with a centrist candidate to balance the ticket, Harris instead chose another hard leftist, verging on communist. The Democrats’ regime is no friend to American energy producers or the American automotive industry. And, as Harris has made clear, “we are not going back.”
In the end, the choice is clear. America needs leadership that will protect our energy independence, lower costs for American families, and strengthen our economy. The alternative is more of the same disastrous policies that have plagued California and could result in the United States being known as Kamalafornia — where energy is expensive, scarce, and unreliable, and where the American dream is slipping further out of reach for millions.