With the summer growing and travel season upon us, the cost of energy is top-of-mind for many. Unfortunately, the Biden administration continues to barrel down a dead end of poorly considered energy policy. Since President Biden took office, the Consumer Price Index shows prices have skyrocketed and stayed high as gasoline prices are up 55.5 percent, airfare is up 38.2 percent, and electricity is up 28.5 percent. It’s clear the president’s attempts to pick and choose industry winners and losers and spend his way out of the economic challenges he has created have only added fuel to the fire of inflation and made American consumers and industry more dependent on our global adversaries.
Last month, under pressure from a bipartisan congressional coalition to support relief at the fuel pump, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finally granted an emergency waiver to allow E15 sales this summer. While I appreciate the EPA’s announcement, ongoing emergency waivers are not a long-term solution. Restrictions on E15 are outdated and backwards, and President Biden has no good reason to withhold support for year-round E15. I will continue working to advance my bill, the Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act, to provide longterm certainty for producers by authorizing permanent, yearround access to E15.
President Biden’s decisions to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline, cancel all federal petroleum drilling lease sales, undermine electric grid reliability through crushing power plant rules, and inexplicably cut off liquid natural gas exports have disadvantaged consumers and hampered productivity across industries.To make matters worse, the administration has also failed to champion market access for American producers. Meanwhile the administration has neglected to enforce sanctions on Iran’s oil industry and the rogue state’s oil exports has hit a six-year high.This is bad for American workers, our economic growth, and our allies.
