WASHINGTON DC – For the second time this month, House Republicans are seeking to restrict the president’s use of the nation’s emergency oil reserves, a proposal that has already threatened a White House veto.
The GOP bill to be voted on Friday would require the government to offset any non-emergency withdrawals from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve with new drilling on public lands and oceans. Republicans accuse President Joe Biden of misusing the reserve for political reasons to keep gasoline prices low, while Biden says the reserve was created in response to a ban on Russian oil imports following President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Taping was required last year.
Biden withdrew 180 million barrels from the strategic reserve over several months, bringing the reserve to its lowest level since the 1980s. The government said last month it would start replenishing reserves now that oil prices have fallen.
Will petrol prices increase?
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre hit out at the latest Republican proposal, which follows a bill passed two weeks ago that would bar the Energy Department from selling oil from the strategic reserve to companies owned or influenced by the Communist Party. Will stop
“House Republicans will vote to raise gas prices for American families … and help Putin’s war goals by interfering with our ability to release oil,” Jean-Pierre said, referring to the Republican Party’s existing bill. ” “These extreme policies will subject working families to extreme financial pain and increase our deficit, benefiting only the wealthiest taxpayers and large corporations.”
Speaking with Jean-Pierre at the White House, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the bill would “make it more difficult to provide future relief to Americans” from oil disruptions that could drive up prices.
If you’re concerned about gasoline prices, there are small things you can do to save fuel and money.
Republican Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee and sponsored the GOP’s bill, accused Granholm and the White House of several misleading claims, including a false claim that the bill during a may affect the utilization of the reserve. The President declared emergency. ,
“At a time when gasoline prices are rising, Secretary Granholm and the Biden administration must be transparent with the American people about how they are misusing the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as an election year gimmick.”, McMorris. Rogers said.
“Republicans want permanent, long-lasting relief at the pump. The best way to do that is to free up American energy,” said McMorris Rodgers of Washington state, who his legislation helps achieve.
This is the biggest cut in oil supply since May 2020.
oil drilling and climate change
The heated rhetoric is part of a wider battle over oil drilling and climate change. Republicans say the Biden administration’s oil lease restrictions hinder US energy production and hurt the economy, while Democrats have criticized a sweeping climate law passed last year to move the country away from fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas. An important step to take. The measure authorizes billions in spending to promote renewable energy such as wind and solar, and includes incentives for Americans to buy millions of more efficient electric cars, heat pumps, solar panels and appliances.
Biden canceled the controversial Keystone XL pipeline in his first days in office and suspended new oil and gas leases on federal lands, citing climate change threats. The moratorium has since been lifted by a court order, but Republicans complain that lease sales for new drilling rights are still limited.
Biden campaigned on promises to end further drilling on public lands, and climate activists have pressured him to move quickly to close oil leasing. Fossil fuels extracted from public lands account for about 20% of US energy-related greenhouse gas emissions, making them a prime target for emissions reductions aimed at slowing global warming.
Some lucky motorists were able to buy gas for $2.38 a gallon in Lower Burrell, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday.
“Whether on land or in the ocean, oil drilling poses an unacceptable risk to our wildlife, wild places and waterways,” said Lisa Frank of Environment America, an advocacy group. “When we drill, we spill. At a time when we should be moving away from this destructive and dangerous practice and expanding our use of renewable energy, this bill doubles down on obsolete energy of the past.”
Frank urged lawmakers to reject the GOP bill and instead permanently ban new drilling off the US coast and in the Alaska Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Industry and conservative groups support the bill.
“We can continue to make the Strategic Petroleum Reserve the nation’s only response to future disruptions, or we can tap more of the vast supplies of oil currently under the President’s embargo on land and offshore.” , the Competitive Enterprise Institute and others said in a letter to Congress about conservative groups.
The Treasury Department estimates that the release of oil from the emergency reserve has reduced prices at the pump by 40 cents per gallon. average gas prices
