What’s up with those gas prices? The Biden-Harris administration is aiming for solutions
Gas prices are well above $5 a gallon in states like California and Nevada and averaging $4 or more in dozens of others.
Gasoline check-ins show that the price of gas at the pump continues to skyrocket across the country, causing a strain on Americans’ wallets.
According to a gas price tracker compiled by American Automobile Association (AAA), gas prices are well above $5 a gallon in some states like California and Nevada and averaging $4 or more in dozens of others.
While announcing on Thursday his decision to release a million barrels of gasoline a day from the United States Strategic Petroleum Reserve for six months to drive down rising gas prices, President Joe Biden said, “Your family budgets to fill a tank — none of it should hinge on whether a dictator declares war.”
The president referred to the war in Ukraine that Russian President Vladimir Putin has inflicted on the neighboring, sovereign country. In his speech at the South Court Auditorium on the White House complex, Biden noted that the war in Ukraine only exacerbated already rising gasoline prices caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
President Biden declared, “Our prices are rising because of Putin’s actions. There isn’t enough supply. And the bottom line is if we want lower gas prices, we need to have more oil supply right now.”
White House National Economic Council Director Brian Deese contends the gasoline oil will come from the four oil reserves in Texas and Louisiana that currently hold 568 million barrels.
At the White House press briefing on Thursday following the President’s historic authorization, Deese said Biden’s move is a short-term bridge with the expectation that United States oil production will return to its normal levels by the third quarter of this year.
President Biden is also making calculated moves to purchase oil for the reserves in the coming year. Deese said that foresight for future purchases “provides stability in the market.”
As gasoline prices are on the rise, the countries that are the largest oil consumers are the United States, China and India. China is said to be working on taking similar actions to the U.S. to slash prices at the pump.
In early March, President Biden announced coordination with other nations to release oil from their reserves.
Last November, the president released around 50 million barrels which was the largest release from the reserve in American history.
President Biden is not taking on all the responsibility of lowering prices at the pump. He is imploring gas station owners to do their part as well by lowering gas prices.
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