Press Release – October 21, 2022

Congresswoman Lauren Boebert led an effort demanding accountability for  Biden  failed energy policies and asking what actions this administration plans to take to reduce pain at the pump.

Congresswoman Lauren Boebert stated, “Biden has waged an all-out war on American energy and we are all paying the price for it. Gas is $4 a gallon again and moms are spending more than $75 dollars to fill up their minivans. The worst part about it is this administration still don’t have a plan. I’ve had enough of this nonsense. It’s time to reduce inflation, lower gas prices, stop raiding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and drill, baby, drill.”

Background:

Congresswoman Lauren Boebert led 11 Members of Congress in a congressional oversight letter to Secretaries Granholm and Haaland encouraging action and seeking accountability for the worsening energy crisis. The Members include Reps. Mary Miller (IL-15), Troy Nehls (TX-22), Andy Biggs (AZ-05), Greg Steube (FL-17), Louie Gohmert (TX-01), Tom Tiffany (WI-07), Dan Bishop (NC-09), Glenn Grothman (WI-06), Randy Weber (TX-14), and Doug LaMalfa (CA-01).

The full text of Congresswoman Lauren Boebert’s letter to Secretaries Granholm and Haaland is available here and below:

Secretaries Granholm and Haaland,

This administration has done everything possible to discourage oil production and raise energy costs on the American people, and the egregious results speak for themselves: the average national price of a gallon of gas peaked at over five dollars in June before decreasing due to a drop off in demand and the onset of recession.

While some Americans have come to view a brief decline in gas prices as a welcome respite during record high inflation, increasing interest rates, and a sputtering economy, gas prices are still much too high and they are starting to increase again. On Wednesday, October 5, news outlets reported that OPEC and non-OPEC producers will pursue output cuts of two million barrels of oil a day; due to the OPEC cartel’s reconstituted and outsized influence in the crude oil market, the price of oil could well increase to over $100 per barrel in short order. This is a foreseeable issue that deserves your full attention and commitment – there is zero excuse for failing to prepare for every contingency.

Last year, in what can only charitably be described as a misplaced reaction to the imposition of high energy costs on the American people, Secretary Granholm laughed when asked what her plan was to increase oil production in America. In March, she also suggested that Americans should purchase electric vehicles to avoid rising gas prices. This extraordinary adoption of a “let them eat cake” mentality, coupled with this government’s inability and unwillingness to approve onshore and offshore oil drilling, indicates that neither one of you, nor anyone else in this administration, has a plan to insulate Americans from the effects of a volatile oil market.

The only concept approaching an energy plan this administration has announced involves a rapid switch towards exclusive use of renewable energy. From the use of cobalt in the construction of electric vehicles, to the procuring of polysilicon in the production of solar panels, this administration seems to have no issue with utilizing slave labor. By plowing forward in his design to halve all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030, Joe Biden has all but ignored the stark human rights atrocities this policy is enabling. Make no mistake: the only way this GHG target is met is if the Biden administration continues to implicitly endorse the use of forced and even child labor within Chinese Communist Party (CCP) supply chains.

Given the prospect of a worsening energy crisis, we demand answers to the following questions by COB Wednesday October 26, 2022:

1). Secretary Granholm, does the Biden administration anticipate higher gas prices considering the OPEC cartel’s intention to reduce output by a reported two million barrels a day? What is currently being done to mitigate OPEC’s influence and ensure that Americans will not be subject to future financial strain at the pump? A year after laughing off the question, do you finally have a plan to increase oil production in the United States? 

2). Secretary Haaland, CNN reports that the White House is “having a spasm and panicking”  due to OPEC’s efforts to cut output. Is the outsized influence of far Left “environmentalist” groups, many of whom have served as de facto apologists for genocide, preventing this administration from increasing domestic energy production?

3). Secretary Haaland, due to OPEC’s announcement on October 5, are you prepared to recommend regulatory relief to facilitate expedited onshore and offshore oil and gas drilling, including but not limited to exemptions from the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)?

4). Secretary Granholm, OilX, a consultant company, estimated that by the end of this month, the SPR will hold only 179 million barrels of medium-sour crude oil, the type of crude oil preferred by US refineries. Last year, the SPR contained 621 million barrels, and one projection indicates that the reserve will shrink to 358 million barrels by the end of this month.  As of September 14, this administration has withdrawn almost 24% of the SPR’s supply since March. 

Does this administration plan to withdraw even more barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR)? Is there any plan to limit this rapid depletion of the SPR?

Did political considerations play any role in extending the SPR’s withdrawal program – initially intended to end on October 31 – beyond Election Day 2022?

5).  Secretary Granholm, given that the only way to realize a 50% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 necessitates continued reliance on a CCP-dominated supply chain, does the Biden administration believe that child and slave labor is merely an unfortunate byproduct in the fight against global warming? Is it acceptable to tell Americans to purchase electric vehicles when the inputs for EVs are typically sourced with forced labor?

6). Secretaries Granholm and Haaland, natural gas prices are at a 14-year high, and as the winter approaches, natural gas prices will likely continue to skyrocket. Have your respective departments developed contingency plans to confront potential rolling blackouts and brownouts, and what will likely be a very expensive winter for millions of Americans? Please provide any accompanying details regarding any such plans.

Thank you in advance for your consideration of these critical questions and we look forward to your timely response.