Republican seeks to use Obama energy policies to criticize Biden 

Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) is seeking to criticize the Biden administration’s energy agenda by drawing comparisons to Obama-era policies.

In a new report released Wednesday, Barrasso criticized both former President Obama’s $90 billion investment in green energy that was part of his stimulus package and President Biden’s proposed infrastructure plan, as well as his energy policies. 

“Unfortunately, President Biden and his administration seemed determined to repeat the same mistakes the Obama administration made when dealing with the recovery from the 2009 financial crisis,” the report said. 

Barrasso, the top Republican on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has repeatedly stressed his support for the fossil fuel industry and been part of a chorus of GOP critics of numerous Biden climate policies. 

The report highlighted Obama-era moves like giving loans to a solar panel company called Solyndra that ultimately went bankrupt and Obama-era investment in rail in California, plans for which were scaled back in 2019.  

“President Biden is doubling down on failure,” Barrasso said in a statement. 

“The Obama administration frittered away billions of taxpayer dollars on green gambles like Solyndra, while taxpayers got fleeced. Now, President Biden wants to bet trillions more on new boondoggles,” he added. 

The Obama administration’s defenders, however, have credited it with helping to grow the country’s wind and solar generation capacity. 

Biden’s proposal, which is being hotly debated in Washington, aims to combat climate change through investments in electric vehicles and building upgrades.