Senator Tim Kaine denies President Donald Trump’s claim of an energy emergency

President Donald Trump has called for an energy emergency and said that the United States is far too “inadequate” to meet the nation’s needs, blaming policies of the previous administration that he said drove the emergency to happen.

However, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said he believes Trump is doing everything he can to attack renewable energy projects by pausing the expenditure of funds available, and he said the U.S. is already doing a good job with energy production.

”The U.S. is producing more energy than we ever have in history, more gas than we’ve ever produced, more petroleum than we’ve ever produced, deploying more alternative energy, renewable energy, than we have ever deployed. And, we are a net-energy-surplus nation to the biggest degree we’ve ever been,” Kaine said. “If he thinks there’s an energy emergency, why is the president doing everything he can to attack renewable energy projects? The president has paused the expenditure of funds available under the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for renewable energy projects — wind, solar, battery technology, electric vehicle charging stations.”

Kaine also said he believes Trump taking down energy projects will cut jobs and raise prices for the American public.

“I’m going to call a lie when I see it. I’m also going to tell the American public and Virginians that what this president is doing is killing jobs and it’s going to raise prices,” Kaine said. “When you unplug the projects that are going to produce more energy at lower cost, you lock yourself into energy that is dirtier and higher cost, and when you constrict supply in a time of increasing demand, prices are going to go up.”