Following remarks from President Biden today on energy prices and an announcement to release an additional 15 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), the GAIN Coalition again urges the administration to embrace an all-of-the-above solution to meaningfully reduce energy prices for the long term.
President Biden’s remarks come one week after reports that he asked OPEC to delay production cuts until after the upcoming November elections.
The SPR was not intended to simply lower prices in the short term. Congress established the SPR as a means to protect the economy from severe supply disruptions caused by natural disasters, trade embargoes, and acts of God. Prior to the inauguration of President Biden, tapping into the crude reserves had been rare, with the last significant release occurring in June 2011 when President Obama directed a sale of 30 million barrels of crude oil to offset disruptions in supply due to unrest in Libya.
However, since January 2021, this administration has used the SPR as political cover to hide the ongoing energy policy failures. Over the past two years, the SPR has been drawn down by 230 million barrels, leaving it at its lowest level since 1984.
Below is a statement that can be attributed to me, Craig Stevens, spokesman for the GAIN Coalition:
President Biden’s energy policy is insulting to the intelligence of Americans – touting a marginal decrease in gasoline prices that his policy is responsible for spiking in the first place; all while depleting the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, refusing to expand U.S. and North American energy development, and pointing the finger at other nations for limiting oil production.
With each passing week, it grows more evident that President Biden has no real strategy for lowering energy prices. From Day One, the President has put American energy producers and pipeline operators in his crosshairs. Now, with gas prices up 59 percent since his inauguration and electricity prices set to double this winter, every American is dealing with the consequences of his unprecedented hostility to the energy sector.
We need real energy leadership from this administration – not stale rhetoric and political gimmicks.
