Heating season is here, and the Iran war is getting the blame for higher energy prices. The war explains the timing. It doesn’t explain the vulnerability.
America produces enormous amounts of oil and gas. Why do prices jump when the Persian Gulf flares? Because oil trades on a world market. A crisis anywhere moves prices everywhere.
But the real problem is policies at the state level that have kept us from truly unleashing the bounty of our domestic energy supply.
It’s been well documented that we have a refinery shortage. The country has 130 operable refineries, down from 301 in 1982, and no major new refinery has been built in the U.S. since 1976. Here in the Northeast, when we lost the Philadelphia Energy Solutions plant, we lost about 335,000 barrels a day.
In my home state of New York, like so many other states, we also have a self-imposed supply problem. Natural gas moves through pipelines, and New York has blocked those pipelines. Pennsylvania, right next door, sits on some of the richest gas fields in the country. The Constitution Pipeline, if constructed, would carry that natural gas 124 miles, with 99 miles of new right-of-way in New York.
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The fight to build this much-needed pipeline is now 10 years old. In April 2016, the state denied the water permit. Courts upheld it. The company tried again in 2025, then withdrew in November after three notices that its application was incomplete.
And the problem runs deeper than one pipeline. Ill-conceived climate laws set sweeping emissions targets, and the plan to reach them is thin if not unattainable. Take New York City’s Local Law 97. It fines large buildings that exceed emissions limits, and the limits tighten sharply in 2030. Owners must pay for costly retrofits or pay penalties. Either way, the bill lands on tenants, co-op owners and small businesses.
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Democrats in too many state capitals seem determined to choke off other reliable and cost-effective energy sources. Nuclear reactors and coal plants have closed down, both of which supply much-needed energy to citizens, especially low-income families.
Meanwhile, the utility bills keep climbing, filling your gas tank becomes more painful, and truckers and shippers face punishing prices for diesel, which, of course, trickles down to raise the cost of everything from lumber to lunch meat.
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I’ve spent over 20 years in the energy and utility industry. Energy is not abstract. It is pipe, wire, steel and supply. Limit supply while demand holds, and prices rise. That is arithmetic, not ideology.
And winter makes it more brutal. On the coldest days, when pipes run full, utilities scramble for alternatives and alternatives cost more. Families on fixed incomes can’t opt out. They lower the thermostat and pull on another sweater.
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Here is what should bother everyone, whatever their politics. A state that won’t produce or import its own fuel doesn’t become independent. It becomes a customer. It bids against the world for supply and accepts whatever price is asked, including prices set by wars it can’t influence.
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What’s the solution? Approve pipeline projects with capacity that bring in domestic gas. Keep reliable power plants running until real replacements are built and tested. Approve the construction of new refineries. Be honest about what climate mandates cost and phase them in at a pace working families can afford. Judge success by lower bills and steady supply, not ribbon-cuttings.
And most importantly: Vote for candidates this November who are dedicated to American energy independence, supporting sensible and robust expansion of both production and refinement of our own bountiful energy supply.
