When it Comes to Energy, Ryan and Vance are Polar Opposites

Ryan Advocates for Corporate Accountability to Lower Consumer Costs, While Vance Backs Big Oil Instead of Ohioans

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Tonight, in a town hall hosted by Fox News, candidates for U.S. Senate  Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan and Republican candidate J.D. Vance spoke to voters about key issues, including inflation and rising energy costs. The differences between Ryan and Vance were stark, with Ryan putting the blame squarely on Big Oil profiteering and price gouging, while Vance spread disinformation attacking Biden and congressional Democrats. Below are some key moments from tonight’s forum.

Amid record quarterly earnings driven by price gouging and profiteering, Ryan called out Big Oil’s war on working people. He also called for  the expansion of clean energy, noting the massive economic benefits.

• When speaking in favor of corporate accountability to address Big Oil’s price gouging, Ryan was met with booming applause. Ryan said, “I think the fact that oil companies are making huge profits and having stock buybacks right now, while the average person here is paying nearly $4 a gallon. I think that’s wrong. And I think we need to crack down on it.”
• Ryan highlighted Ohio’s booming clean energy manufacturing industry, noting the wave of investments and jobs that have flooded Ohio since the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act.
  • Ryan said: “But we do need to move to electric vehicles, solar panels. Just in my congressional district alone, Foxconn bought the old General Motors plant – the plant was empty. There are now five products outside of Youngstown, Ohio being made at the plant. A truck, three cars, and an electric tractor – all electric. Across the street is a battery plant. In Toledo, we have solar panels that are being made. They’ve made hundreds of millions of dollars in investments into Ohio. Honda just announced a $4 billion battery plant here based on what we are doing moving into the clean energy space. I want Ohio to be the manufacturing powerhouse of the world — if it’s not us, it’s China. So we have to go all in on these products of the future.”

While Ryan leaned into corporate accountability and Ohio’s potential to lead the clean energy economy, Vance repeatedly spread disinformation about the so-called “energy crisis.”

• Vance repeatedly brought up the alleged “war on energy”, a favorite talking point from Republicans and their Big Oil backers, falsely claiming that the Biden administration has cut energy production. This just is not true.
  • The United States is producing more energy than ever before – according to the Energy Information Administration, 2022 is expected to break the previous production record.
  • Domestic crude oil production has grown since 2020 and is projected to break annual records by 2023. Natural gas production already set a new annual record in 2021 and hit a record for daily production in September 2022.
•  When pressed on what he would do to cut energy costs for Ohioans, Vance’s only “solution” was to continue the status quo, expanding oil production and allowing oil and gas companies to continue raking in record profits at the expense of working Ohioans. This could be a major liability for Vance – a new poll shows 76% of voters in key battleground states blame high gas prices on oil and gas companies raising prices on consumers to maximize corporate profits.
• Despite Ohio’s rapidly growing clean energy industry, Vance never once mentioned what he would do to support this sector and ensure the Buckeye State continues attracting investments that create good-paying jobs.

This town hall happened as major oil and gas companies announce eye-popping third quarter profits and President Biden pushes for a corporate windfall tax to hold the industry accountable for price gouging the American public. Here are some of the topline Q3 profits:

• Exxon reported $19.6 billion for Q3, a 191.26% increase over last year – an all-time record. 
• Chevron reported $11.2 billion for Q3, an 89% increase.
• BP released third quarter profits to the tune of $8.15 billion.
  • BP spent $1.14 billion on dividends and $2.876 billion on stock buybacks for a total of $4.016 billion on rewarding shareholders.
• Marathon Petroleum reported $3.86 billion in Q3 profits.
  • Marathon spent $285 million on dividends and $3.908 billion on stock buybacks for a total of $4.192 billion spent rewarding shareholders.
• Phillips 66 reported $3.12 billion in Q3 profits. 
• Saudi Aramco – the world’s largest oil company – reported $42.4 billion in net income for the third quarter.