Joe Biden Will Keep Exploiting Our Strategic Petroleum Reserve Until Congress Stops Him
By: Tristan Justice
October 26, 2022
Biden has abused the nation’s strategic petroleum reserve as his own personal bank of political capital.
President Joe Biden tapped the nation’s emergency petroleum reserve once again last week after the Saudis refused to ramp up oil production as the economy copes with energy shortages.
“I have been doing everything in my power to reduce gas prices since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine caused these prices to spike and rattled international oil markets,” Biden said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the war in eastern Europe.
The president unleashed an additional 15 million barrels from the strategic petroleum reserve after 180 million barrels were sold off at a pace of 1 million per day from April through mid-October. According to the Energy Information Administration, the U.S. uses about 20 million barrels of oil per day.
Biden’s claim to be doing “everything” in his power to reduce gas prices runs contrary to the White House’s energy policy since day one of his administration. The president immediately closed off public lands from new oil and gas leases for 18 months upon his inauguration, freezing investment in the capital- and labor-intensive industry while a cascade of taxes and regulations from the Department of the Interior suppressed production even further. Biden also blocked plans for a major oil refinery in the Virgin Islands, keeping U.S. refining capacity on a downward trajectory after decades of decline.
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https://thefederalist.com/2022/10/26/joe-biden-will-keep-exploiting-our-strategic-petroleum-reserve-until-congress-stops-him/
