The energy industry has always held a special place in my heart. After serving in the Korean War, my dad became a gas station owner. He eventually managed more than 200 gas stations across Indiana , and I went to work at one of those gas stations when I was just 14.

So, it was a special privilege for me to be part of the most pro-energy administration in the history of our country. In 48 months, our administration made America the world’s greatest energy superpower.

But everything changed when Joe Biden became president. During his campaign, Biden pledged to “end fossil fuels,” and now, he is making good on his promise. He canceled the Keystone XL pipeline, imposed drilling moratoriums, and refused to auction oil and gas leases on federal lands. Now, he wants to cripple the energy industry by forcing it to comply with capricious environmental, social, and corporate governance regulations.

Biden’s war on energy has been a major contributor to the runaway inflation that is crushing family budgets and small businesses. Since Biden took office, gas prices are up 60% and electricity prices have increased by 25%. Higher energy costs increase the price of every product that is grown on a farm, built in a factory, or shipped on a truck.

The next president of the United States must be prepared to unleash American energy on Day One — and I have a plan to do exactly that.

My administration will set a goal of overtaking China to become the world’s No. 1 energy producer by 2040. China surpassed America in 2006 — but with the right leadership, America can and should retake that title. We have the capacity and the natural resources — all we lack is the political will.

My plan is source-neutral, meaning it is a true “all of the above” strategy. Every kind of energy has a role to play in America’s future, from oil, coal, and natural gas to nuclear and renewables. Our administration will work to increase production from all sources, without new taxpayer subsidies or biased regulations.

Under Biden, America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve has been drained to the lowest level in 40 years, yet gasoline prices remain 60% percent higher than the day Biden took office. My plan will replenish the 300 million barrels of oil depleted by the current administration.

As president, the very first action I will take to spur energy production is to unwind the tangled morass of regulations created by the Biden administration. I will immediately kick-start the sale of oil and gas leases, including offshore, on federal lands, and in Alaska. Permitting approval times will be cut in half, and we will repeal a host of regulations that have prevented the construction of new refineries and liquefied natural gas terminals in recent years.

We will also end the legal assault waged against American energy by shutting down Biden’s Office of “Environmental Justice” at the DOJ. And we will work with Congress to end the use of left-wing environmental, social, and governance principles nationwide.

Unleashing American energy will not only create thousands of jobs and lower inflation substantially. It will also enhance America’s national security. As we’ve seen in Ukraine and the resulting energy in crisis in Europe, energy is now being used as a geopolitical weapon. Friendly nations around the world are desperate for American energy. While Biden is retreating, China is gaining an important energy foothold. America must produce and export every type of energy to maintain our influence around the world.

The public has always understood that the source of our national greatness is our faith, our freedom, and our vast national resources. If you remove one of those pillars, you diminish our nation.

In a speech commemorating the brave patriots who secured our country’s liberty in the American Revolution, the great statesman Daniel Webster said: “Let us develop the resources of our land, call forth its powers, build up its institutions, promote all its great interests, and see whether we also, in our day and generation, may not perform something worthy to be remembered.”

It is time to get government out of the way and off the backs of America’s energy producers. Let us, as Webster said, develop the resources of our land so that we might build a brighter future for the public.

Mike Pence is a 2024 presidential candidate and the former vice president of the United States.