Its energy, stupid – the foundation of life-sustaining economies. Don’t waste last-minute votes on third party candidates who cannot win. Too much is at risk. Vote for winnable candidates who support all-the-above energy abundance.

President Joe Biden inadvertently reminded all voters yesterday of the need to vote for rational candidates who don’t advocate radical anti-energy policies. Biden, the highest-ranking figure of the Democratic Party, made clear he will continue inflationary policies that mostly hurt the poor and middle class and weaken the United States economically and militarily.

His words reflect the sentiments and policies of Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, Gov. Jared Polis and much of the Democratic Party’s far-left base.

“No more drilling. There is no more drilling. I haven’t formed any new drilling,” Biden said on Monday.

Got that? Support for his Biden’s agenda – promoted by Bennet and Polis – supports no additional production of the oil and gas essential for stopping and lowering inflation. That statement came three days after Biden said he would continue his rapid march toward shutting down coal-fueled electric plants.

“We’re going to be shutting these plants down all across America and having wind and solar also providing tax credits to help families buy energy-efficient appliances,” Biden said.

Average Americans worry about affording power for the appliances they already have. They’re hoping to keep food in the fridge. Federal spending on new appliances for all would only exacerbate inflation. Today’s challengers of Bennet and Polis – Joe O’Dea and Heidi Ganahl respectively – understand the genuine problems facing hard-working Coloradans.

Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a commonsense and pragmatic leader, countered Biden’s extreme position.

“Comments like these are the reason the American people are losing trust in President Biden and instead believe he does not understand the need to have an all-in energy policy that would keep our nation totally energy independent and secure. It seems his positions change depending on the audience and the politics of the day,” Manchin said.

He called the president’s comments “divorced from reality” and “offensive and disgusting” to those who work to keep our country’s electrical grid running.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded with a statement that said the president regrets “if” anyone took offense. She said the president was talking about the United States as an “energy superpower…in the midst of an energy transition.”

Americans have heard throughout the year how this election may shape up as a referendum on record-breaking inflation. Manufactured scarcities of easily accessible and affordable energy – including former President Richard Nixon’s 1970s gasoline price controls – have underscored every modern-era inflation crisis.

Advancements in solar and wind technologies are blessings. They mean humanity has a growing and increasingly diverse and reliable energy portfolio. Expanding supplies of competing energy sources should drop prices for all consumers.

Though wealthy Americans may consider energy easily available and affordable, the World Health Organization reports nearly 2.5 billion people around the globe “still cook using solid fuels (such as wood, crop waste, charcoal, coal and dung) and kerosene in open fires and inefficient stoves (in contained dwelling).”

The International Energy Agency reports about 3.5 million people die each year from heating and cooking with biofuels, which amounts to more than half of all deaths caused by all air pollution annually around the globe. Their best hope lies in liquid natural gas, which easily transporst to rural areas.

Oil and gas trade globally, so an abrupt end to new energy production in the United States or other regions with massive supplies of fossil fuels only increases energy poverty locally, nationally and globally. It exacerbates inflation by escalating the cost of fuels essential to producing and transporting nearly all food and products we rely on for clothing, housing, transportation, communication and everything else.

One cannot manufacture, transport or operate a wind turbine, solar panel or electric car without substantial reliance on conventional fuels. Someday, as society advances, we may sustain a high standard of living and a continued decline in poverty with only the wind, sun and geothermal heat. Today, we need conventional fuels to sustain humanity and pursue that goal.

“No more drilling” – an imminent goal shared by Bennet and Polis – means more inflation, poverty, suffering and death.

Vote for candidates who oppose energy scarcity and all that goes with it. In Colorado, that means electing Gubernatorial candidate Heidi Ganahl, Senatorial candidate Joe O’Dea and other moderates who advocate sensible, all-the-above energy policies that sustain and advance humanity.

Colorado Springs Gazette Editorial Board