Biden Would Veto House Bill That Will Protect Oil Reserves

January 25, 2023

The Biden/Harris Administration’s careless tapping into the country’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) has made our emergency reserves dangerously low. The President using this emergency reserve to help his approval ratings while draining a much-needed supply. Now, U.S. Energy Secretary, Jennifer Granholm, is saying President Biden would veto a House bill that would protect the SPR.

Reuters reports:

“The bill, called HR21, would prohibit the energy secretary from tapping the SPR without producing a plan to increase oil and gas leasing on federal lands – unless the release is for a severe oil supply emergency.Republican lawmakers say they are concerned that last year’s releases from the SPR, the biggest amount of crude oil from any president, have deteriorated the ability to store, pipe and pump oil at the SPR, which holds crude across series of underground natural caverns on the Texas and Louisiana coasts.”

The SPR is meant to be used strategically for emergencies, not as a way to handle high gas prices. President Biden is merely trying to protect his own image, with no regard for the long-term consequences. 

Power The Future’s Communications Director Larry Behrens, said it best, “Long before we had heard of the Penn Biden Center, President Biden’s legacy was delivering the highest gas prices in generations and the worst inflation since the 1980s. Every American knows that gas prices are dramatically higher than when President Biden first took office, yet he wants to continue to use our strategic petroleum reserve as his own political damage control. The meaningful way to lowering gas prices is by unleashing domestic energy production, something Biden can never do because it will offend his far left eco-base.”

The SPR is supposed to be used only in severe supply interruption situations. With no clear plan for how to refill the SPR, what will happen during the next emergency after the current administration has used it all up?