President Donald Trump reacted to President Joe Biden ordering the Department of Energy to release 50 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
“For decades our Country’s very important Strategic Oil Reserves were low or virtually empty in that no President wanted to pay the price of filling them up,” said Trump. “I filled them up three years ago, right to the top, when oil prices were very low.”
Biden, who tweeted that the oil releases will lower energy costs, is tapping into the nation’s petroleum stockpile more than ten months after shutting down the Keystone XL Pipeline, a move that kickstarted the rapid increase in energy and fuel costs.
Trump slammed Biden for tapping into the nation’s emergency oil reserves, historically used in times of war and natural disasters. Trump noted the country was energy independent last year, but now suffers high energy costs because of Biden.
“Those reserves are meant to be used for serious emergencies, like war, and nothing else. Now I understand that Joe Biden will be announcing an “attack” on the newly brimming Strategic Oil Reserves so that he could get the close to record-setting high oil prices artificially lowered,” added Trump.
“We were energy independent one year ago, now we are at the mercy of OPEC, gasoline is selling for $7 in parts of California, going up all over the Country, and they are taking oil from our Strategic Reserves. Is this any way to run a Country?” he said.
Biden ordered the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate why gas prices are not going down, accusing the energy companies of engaging in “illegal conduct.” However, Biden has not acknowledged that his energy policies could have played a role in the decades-high energy prices. He shut down the Keystone XL Pipeline, halted new oil and gas leases on federal land, considered shutting down the Enbridge Energy’s Line 5 pipeline in Michigan earlier this month, though he recently stated that he would not shut it down at this time.
Biden has attacked the oil and gas industries, even telling workers that they could find new jobs “where they live.” In July, he authorized the construction of an oil and gas pipeline across Russia, while simultaneously attacking and dismantling the energy industry in his own country.
Average gas prices have more than doubled since last year, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA). In 2020, average gas prices in November were $2.10 per gallon. In November 2021, average prices increased to $3.40 per gallon. Areas in California have even seen gas prices as high as nearly $8.00 per gallon.
