As gas prices hit a record high for the ninth day in a row Wednesday, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito joined with other Senate Republican leaders to call on President Biden to take action and alter his domestic energy policy.
Capito said. “What people want to hear is, ‘I get it.’ … People want someone to take responsibility.”
A spokesperson with AAA, however, said the cost at the pumps is “being driven entirely by the price of oil” and not by anything the Biden administration has done.
“We drive everywhere,” Capito said during the press conference at the U.S. Capitol. “We are rural America where cars are the only way to get to the places you need to be.”
The average price for regular gas in West Virginia was $4.38 a gallon Wednesday ($4.42 in Monongalia County) and $4.56 nationally, according to AAA.
Prices are hovering at
$100 to $110 a barrel, AAA’s Andrew Gross said, compared to $64 last August. Tapping into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve dropped the price about $10, but then it rose again as the war kept grinding on.
The price of oil accounts for 60% of the pump price.
Capito mentioned a conversation she had with a man named Craig over the weekend. He told her he has to fill his diesel truck every day — diesel is $5.57 a gallon — and the price has gone from $60 pre-Biden to $140.
She also read from a few emails she’s received. A woman in Huntington said, “I’m a senior and I’m barely making it.” A man from Wellsburg said he’s nearing the point of having to choose between food and fuel.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said her statewide average is $5 a gallon, but more than 80% of its communities can’t be reached by road and fuel has to be shipped by barge or air; those prices range from $7.25 to $11 a gallon.
“This is absolutely unsustainable,” she said. “Right now we’ve got an administration whose plan is to blame anybody but their policies.”
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said Biden’s policies are hurting poor and low-income Americans the most. Referring to Biden’s proposed National Environmental Policy Act rules, he said, “Take a good look at a pipeline because you won’t see another one in America if these rules pass.”
No pipelines and no ability to ship liquefied natural gas to our European allies forces their dependence on a hostile Russia, he said.
Russia does play a part, AAA spokesman Andrew Gross said.
“The price surge is being driven by this war in Ukraine,” he explained, noting Russia is one of the top-three oil producers in the world, with the U.S. being first. “With less Russian oil, and with the fear of a lot less Russian oil — the oil market is very headline driven — there’s a lot of fear out there that supplies will be more constrained than they are now, and that is driving the price up.”
Rebooting America’s fuel development chain, the GOP leaders said, can make a difference. Murkowski said, “We can pick Alaska over Iran. We can pick Wyoming over Venezuela. It’s pretty easy here.”
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, was among those who highlighted how escalating fuel costs contribute to overall inflation. In Iowa, higher fuel costs raise the cost of obtaining fertilizer and operating farm equipment and shipping produce. “It is destroying our rural communities.”
Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyoming, said the inflation leaves families less for food, clothing and family activities. Tapping 1 million barrels per day from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve has failed.
“It’s done nothing to relieve the pain at the pump, but it has made us more vulnerable,” he said, adding, “he (Biden) is beholden to climate extremists. That’s the altar at which he worships.”
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, also opted to lay the blame at Biden’s feet.
He said while Biden wants to blame the “Putin Price Hike,” Cruz displayed a chart that showed the steady price hikes since Biden took office — saying there was a spike when Putin invaded Ukraine, but each Biden energy policy action led to hikes long before that.
So, what might offer some relief right now?
Asked about possible solutions, Gross said, “How do you beat the pump? A lot of folks will beat the pump by dumping the pump.”
It will be interesting to see how many people go electric this year, he said. Sales rose 80% in the past year. Electric cars cost more up-front but are less expensive to maintain.
As far as what Gross thinks Biden can do, he said, “There are very few arrows in the quiver.” Biden’s decision to allow E15 — 15% ethanol fuel — sales through the summer helped a bit. Tapping into the reserves helped a bit. But there’s little any administration can do.
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