U.S. Energy Administration records show that gas prices have gone up every month since Joe Biden has taken office.
This isn’t really shocking since the Biden promised he would give “no ability for the oil industry to drill, period” while campaigning. Limiting growth in any industry through government regulation and executive order is bound to have an impact.
On his first day in office Biden issued an executive order killing multiple pipeline projects in this country, including the Keystone XL oil pipeline. He also put a moratorium on several federal oil and gas leasing programs.
As the economy began reopening from COVID 19 (despite several governmental efforts to slow and prevent business from opening), the Biden administration blamed the reopening for an increased demand in oil and gas that was spiking prices. An energy plan that counted on American businesses reopening was far too much to ask for. You see, it wasn’t Biden’s fault – it was those pesky communities opening back up from their government-enforced COVID slumber.
At an October 2021 CNN Town Hall Biden admitted, “I don’t see anything that’s going to happen in the meantime that’s going to significantly reduce gas prices.”
What vision. The man without a plan. Except a plan to limit U.S. energy growth, that he’s got.
When asked about a plan to deal with rising gas prices earlier this week, the House Democratic Caucus Chair, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, said that having a plan to deal with high gas prices “hasn’t come up.”
Related: Biden Claims It's 'Simply Not True' That He's Holding Back US Energy Production
Perhaps the issue is not being addressed by Democratic leadership because they have a new place to put the blame -Vladimir Putin. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent banning of Russian oil imports into the U.S. we have seen yet another spike in gas prices. The Biden administration is happy to refer to gas increases as “Putin’s price hike.” It’s all Putin's fault. It certainly has absolutely nothing to do with the Biden administration’s lack of a comprehensive energy plan.
The Democratic Caucus Chair says that a conversation about a plan to lower gas prices “hasn’t come up” among their party members. It's easier to blame Putin - having a real plan to address the price of gas simply isn't worth talking about. As U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said when asked about reconsidering the Keystone pipeline, the administration isn't interested in pursuing "permanent solutions" to gas price issues.
It's easier to be 'Putin' the blame elsewhere.