Joe Biden

ICYMI: Two New Fact Checks Debunk Unfounded Republicans Claims on Gas Prices

March 15, 2022

As Putin's unprovoked attack on Ukraine has sent tremors around global markets and driven up energy prices, Republicans are baselessly claiming that the Biden Administration's policies are behind the recent surge in gas prices. New articles by the Washington Post and Slate debunk the claim.

Claims that the Biden Administration has held back domestic energy production are similarly unfounded, as the US actually exported more petroleum than it imported in 2021 while also increasing overall crude oil production.

These stories join a growing set of fact checks comprehensively debunking Republican talking points on energy prices.

Read more below:

The Washington Post: The truth about gas prices and oil production
[Glenn Kessler, 3/15/22]

" There's little evidence that Biden's policies have had any direct impact on oil production.. Keystone XL still would not have been built by now even if Biden had permitted it to go forward — and even if it were in place, the impact in prices would be measured in pennies. Moreover, even without Keystone XL, imports from Canada have increased about 50 percent over the past decade."

"The United States actually exports more oil than it imports. In 2021, according to the Energy Information Administration, the United States imported about 8.47 million barrels per day of petroleum, compared to exports of 8.63 million barrels per days...In other words, the United States cannot be an island in the worldwide energy market. But it is more secure as a net exporter of petroleum."

Slate: Why blaming Joe Biden for high gas prices is completely and utterly absurd
[3/15/22]

"As gas prices have surged over the past several months—and shot up even further following Russia's incursion into Ukraine—Republicans have predictably tried to pin blame on the White House... But President Joe Biden did not cause this. In fact, other than sanctions against Russia—which the GOP broadly supported—the primary reasons why filling up your tank has gotten more expensive over the past year have almost nothing to do with America's chief executive. ... Members of the GOP have been saying that a big reason the cost of gas soared over the last few months is that the president simply hasn't let oil companies drill enough. Specifically, they say, the White House has bottled up American fossil fuel production by issuing fewer oil leases on federal lands and by stopping pipeline construction."

"That's just not the case: In fact, oil production has actually increased, from about 11 million barrels per day to 11.5 million barrels through 2021. As Biden himself noted last week when announcing sanctions on Russian energy, domestic oil companies pumped more crude during the first year of his presidency than in the first year of Donald Trump's. The number of oil rigs operating in the United States is still growing, too."

" It's also false to say the Keystone XL pipeline's shutdown plays a role here. Last June, when Biden canceled an important permit for the Alberta-to-Nebraska crude pipeline, only 8 percent of the entire line had been constructed; the completed pipe wouldn't have gone online until next year at the earliest."

Joseph R. Biden, ICYMI: Two New Fact Checks Debunk Unfounded Republicans Claims on Gas Prices Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/354943

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