US ELECTIONS: Democrats' platform vows to combat oil, gas 'price gouging,' ease subsidies

The Democratic Party released a platform Aug. 18 that promised a continuation of Biden administration climate and clean energy policies, while vowing to combat any "price gouging" by oil and gas companies.

The platform was drafted before President Joe Biden dropped out of the US presidential race and was slated to be adopted Aug. 19, the first day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

On energy policy, a large portion of the platform was devoted to defending and even expanding the massive investments and tax incentives for climate and clean energy that Biden enshrined into law via the Inflation Reduction Act and bipartisan infrastructure legislation.

Republicans' 2024 platform, by contrast, supported "terminating the Socialist Green New Deal" and vowed to "lift restrictions" on energy production.

But the Democrats' plan was generally light on new energy policy specifics that could prove divisive in the battle to win over swing states, steering away from an emphasis on restricting fossil fuel development. Vice President Kamala Harris already has backed away from her 2020 primary stance supporting a ban on fracking.

"Above all, Democrats will unite against the Republican war on clean energy, blocking their obsessive attempts to repeal President Biden's clean energy investments," the Democratic platform said.

Oil and gas mentions

On oil and gas, the platform emphasized Democrats' efforts to keep prices in check.

"When we hear of potential collusion or price-gouging, we'll hold oil and gas executives accountable," the platform said.

Democrats have focused on alleged collusion since the US Federal Trade Commission in May accused former Pioneer Natural Resources CEO Scott Sheffield of trying to work with producers in the US, OPEC and OPEC+ to stifle production and artificially inflate the price of oil. Since then, Senate Democrats have called on the US Justice Department to investigate collusion by major US oil companies, and House Democrats asked the US Interior Department whether companies found liable of collusion could be barred from getting leases on public lands.

The new platform also touted the Biden administration's decisions to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in the past and vowed to keep that option open in the future. "When windfall profiteering causes prices to spike at the pump, we'll release our own supplies to keep costs down for American families," the platform said.

In 2022, Biden released 180 million barrels from the SPR in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, at an average price of $95/b. The Department of Energy has since directly repurchased 45 million barrels at an average price of $77/b.

In 2024, DOE awarded contracts for the sale of 1 million barrels of gasoline from the Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve, timed to dent regional gasoline prices before the July 4 holiday, as the government moved one step closer to the congressionally mandated closure of the NGSR.

The 2024 platform further promised to eliminate tens of billions of dollars in "unfair" oil and gas subsidies, going beyond the increased royalties for oil and gas production on federal lands implemented under the Biden administration.

This year's platform was silent on several controversial issues that pit leftist activist groups against more centrist elements of the Democratic coalition. It did not discuss phasing out new oil and gas drilling, ending hydrocarbon leasing on federal lands, or limiting new fossil fuel infrastructure approvals.

Instead, it praised the Biden administration for increasing domestic oil and gas production. "Through record energy production of clean energy, oil, and gas, we've lowered prices at the pump for American families," the platform said.

Democrats from fossil fuel-heavy states — including Pennsylvania, a critical swing state in this election — have tended to be more supportive of oil and gas production.

Looking forward

The platform did delineate several forward-leaning policies on energy, albeit without much detail.

The Democrats promised to use US leadership to bolster energy supply chains.

"We'll work through the Multilateral Development Bank to elevate climate and clean energy priorities within the global development finance system," they said.

On the electricity side, the platform called for policy reforms to deal with bottlenecks in the nation's ability to install new renewable generation capacity and interconnect that power into the transmission grid.

"Going forward, Democrats will keep working to incentivize investment in transmission upgrades and new lines, and in the grid-component manufacturing that's needed to support that growth," the platform said. "We will improve and speed up the processes of environmental review and clean-energy permitting; and further scale up development of clean energy on public lands."

The document did not specify what new steps the party will support to speed up permitting.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee recently advanced legislation by a 15-4 vote with provisions to speed transmission and LNG export permitting, although White House climate adviser John Podesta in mid-August expressed reservations about some elements of the proposal. Negotiations on that bill are likely to intensify during the lame-duck session after the November election, Podesta said, according to news accounts of his comments at a Third Way event Aug. 13.