Florida Republican Governor. Ron DeSantis calls out Joe Biden’s use of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), in an attempt to reduce gas prices ahead of the November midterm elections.
“Releasing barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve- that is not an energy policy. That is a political move trying to CYA so people don’t blame you as much, although they do blame him because they’re smart, but that’s all that is,” DeSantis said during a Thursday press conference.
“That is not a solution. And honestly, you have, he’s drawing that down if we did have something else happen, we may need to actually use that for other things and we may not have the capacity at that point. So, very, very reckless to be doing that, it has not made a dent in the price at all,” he continued.
It is not a good idea to release barrels of oil from Strategic Petroleum Reserves. This has had no effect on gasoline prices. The Biden Administration must provide real energy policies solutions so that Americans don’t have to pay $5 per gallon for gas. pic.twitter.com/XsWSyvVkQ2
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) June 16, 2022
According to Reuters Tuesday, the Biden Administration declared that it will be selling 45 million barrels out of the reserve. Reuters further reported that the White House announced in March that 1,000,000 barrels would be released daily over six months. This was to counter rising oil prices.
Evidently, drivers are still paying high gas prices despite all the efforts. AAA reports that gas prices are still at record highs. As of Thursday, the average cost per gallon was $5.
Others Republican lawmakers have been harshly critical of SPR use, such as many congressmen.
“The American people deserve to know more about DOE’s plan to backfill the SPR. The SPR is intended for emergency supply chain disruptions — not as a stop gap to make up for the Biden administration’s war on domestic energy,” House Oversight Committee Republicans wrote in a letter addressed to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on May 26, Fox Business reported.
Republicans are right to be concerned. This issue cannot be resolved by adding more domestic drilling or increasing pressure on foreign oil suppliers to buy higher quantities. The reserve will be reduced if there’s a disaster, or other event that calls for it to be used. Biden needed this solution desperately.
Although DeSantis’s direct call-out of Biden was seen by some as an indicator that he wants to run against the president in 2024 (which I just noted earlier on Thursday in a VIP piece), every GOP governor in the United States should be critical of the president’s energy policies.
He’s running. https://t.co/Z9Eiroki0b
— Rob Pyers (@rpyers) June 16, 2022
Yes, DeSantis could have aspirations of higher office, except he is right to care about the federal energy policies–regardless of what he decides to do in 2024. Just like Americans everywhere else, Floridians are currently paying higher gas prices. Conservative leaders must stand up to the Biden agenda. He seems to know that.
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