I suppose I should have been pleasantly surprised yesterday when I saw that fuel prices had dipped from the previous week. They are nowhere near where they were four years ago, but at least I was left with enough change to buy a pack of gum when I was done pumping gas. Of course, a small drop in prices is no reason to pop the champagne and throw the confetti since the nation remains governed by the people who launched the price of gas through the roof in the first place. But I guess we have to take our victories where we can get them, even if they are pyrrhic.
In a scenario in which rational people who did not have agendas ran the country, one would be tempted to chalk the price drop up to the fact that we are on the other side of the Memorial Day Weekend. At present, we do not live in such a country, so in addition to bracing ourselves for the inevitable jump in already outrageous gas prices, which is coming, the question remains why did we see a decrease, even a modest one?
Two Republican lawmakers think they know why, and the smart money is on their hunch. On Wednesday, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), who is the chair of the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), a ranking member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, sent a letter to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. The letter accuses the Biden administration of tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) for political gain.
The legislators note that the SPR is designed to be accessed only in times of national emergencies and that under Biden, the SPR has hit its lowest level since 1983. They also state that under Biden's watch, the level has dropped from 638 million barrels to 367 million, a 42% decline. They add that the administration has done nothing to replenish the dwindling supply. The legislators then accuse Biden of abusing the SPR for political purposes:
Under the Biden administration, the SPR has been abused for political purposes to try and bring down record-high gasoline prices that are driving record-high inflation that are a consequence of the administration’s radical rush to “green” energy policies. In November of 2021, the Biden administration announced a release, in coordination with China, in an attempt to lower prices. Then in March of 2022, the president announced the release of 180 million barrels of oil from the SPR in the middle of an election year, a transparent attempt to influence the midterm elections and distract from the Biden administration’s energy policy failures.
They also cite instances from this year in which Biden advisors have stated that the administration would continue to monitor the oil situation and tap the SPR when necessary to ease prices. Noteworthy is the fact that the administration is not interested in developing oil and natural gas within the U.S. and is doing its best to bring it to a halt:
At the same time that the Biden administration has been mismanaging the SPR for political gain, they have been taking a “whole of government approach” to phase out oil and natural gas development in the United States. These policies and statements have sent a signal that jeopardizes investment in future development and projects and creates near-term price disruptions. Instead of using a strategic national asset to offset the high energy prices that his radical rush to “green” energy policies contribute to, President Biden should end his war on oil and natural gas and focus on lowering production costs.
I have written before about how Biden has co-opted stretches of the Mojave Desert and muscled in on the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary for solar and wind projects that benefit his campaign donors. It only stands to reason that the administration would gaslight people at the gas pumps to convince them that it has made things slightly better after making them significantly worse. Some of them will fall for it. It makes you wonder why the Democrats even need trials.
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