PBS was more than willing to help Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD) harass an important American industry during a critical time in the inflation-rattled economy. 

During the May 22 edition of PBS NewsHour, PBS correspondent Lisa Desjardins egged on Raskin to compare fossil fuel companies to the tobacco industry for supposedly hiding the impact of their emissions on “climate change.” Raskin called for the Department of Justice to investigate them for “costing humanity hundreds of billions of dollars,” leaving the door open to both possible criminal and civil liability. Desjardins not only pushed this tobacco analogy but also took four and a half minutes to briefly mention the elephant in the room: America still needs fossil fuels. 

The U.S. gets the vast majority of its energy from fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas. Fossil fuels are also critical for the production of fertilizer, plastic, cement, steel and other much-needed products, but this was apparently lost on PBS.

Desjardins did eventually read a statement by the American Petroleum Institute (API) Senior Media Relations Manager Andrea Woods. “This is another unfounded political charade to distract from persistent inflation and America’s need for more energy, including oil and natural gas. U.S. energy workers are focused on delivering the reliable, affordable oil and natural gas Americans demand and any suggestion to the contrary is false,” Desjardins read. 

Desjardins then asked Raskin for his response to the API statement given that “obviously moving to renewable fuels can’t happen immediately.” 

“Well we’re at levels of gas and oil production higher than we’ve seen before and the economy remains deeply invested and engaged in carbon production,” Raskin stammered out before returning to bashing the industry.  But this was misleading, and PBS didn’t bother pushing back. 

Americans have paid the price for Biden’s eco-extremist policies by suffering stubbornly higher gas prices. Average gas prices have risen to $3.73/gallon under Biden in April 2024 from $2.24/gallon under Trump in Jan 2021. This is even though Biden massively drained the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve starting in 2021. The president just recently sold off even more oil designated for emergencies, a million barrels from the Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve.

President Joe Biden has repeatedly restricted oil and gas production and discouraged future investments. In addition, Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency recently passed a rule that CNN Climate Correspondent Bill Wehr said is designed to not only shutter existing coal plants, but also to place new burdens on new natural gas plants. The Biden Administration has also announced a “pause” on new liquified natural gas projects, restricted drilling in Alaska, and reversed several of former President Donald Trump’s pro-energy executive orders. 

[WATCH: Senator Mike Lee Confronts Jennifer Granholm on Anti-Energy Policies]

Conservatives are under attack! Contact ABC News at 818-460-7477, CBS News at 212-975-3247 and NBC News at 212-664-6192 and demand they hold Biden and his cronies accountable for attempting to restrict fossil fuel production and Americans’ choices.