The Biden administration is continuing to place the blame on the oil and gas industry for sky-high American gas prices, but the Functional Government Initiative (FGI) believes that the administration's own energy policies is causing gas prices to skyrocket.
The FGI recently requested access to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) documents regarding their ongoing investigation of the oil and gas industry to determine how the Biden administration's energy policies may be impacting the cost of oil and gas, according to the FGI's website. The request was denied, which leads the FGI to believe that gas prices are a result of the administration's energy policies, not profiteering or price gouging by the oil and gas industry.
In recent weeks, President Joe Biden repeated his belief that the oil and gas industry may be price gouging or profiteering, this time citing the war between Russia and Ukraine. The FGI asserted that this statement simply reflects broader opposition to the domestic oil and gas industry, or an attempt to shift blame from the federal government’s role in driving inflation higher over the past year. Although there is proof of pump prices being on the rise before the war in Ukraine, FGI said the domestic oil and gas industry appears to be a constant bogeyman for the Biden administration.
FGI believes that in the midst of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and skyrocketing inflation and gas prices, the FTC is likely months into an investigation of the oil and gas industry. In response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking records around the president’s November 2021 call to investigate the oil and gas industry, FGI was denied documents from the FTC.
"Attorney General Garland’s FOIA memo issued last week highlights the obligation of federal agencies to release all information that is not strictly protected under the law," Peter McGinnis, spokesperson for the FGI, said. "Accordingly, FGI will be appealing the FTC’s decision to withhold all documents related to a possible investigation into the oil and gas industry."
McGinnis continued, "In the midst of record inflation, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and after a year of shutting down pipelines and calling for a full transition away from fossil fuels, it rings a bit hollow that increased gas prices are anything but an intended result of the administration’s current move away from energy independence. We will continue to seek access to records so the public can make up their own mind."
The organization announced in late February that it seeks full transparency from government agencies in the following areas: Actions to slow gas price hikes using emergency powers; calls for investigating the meat and energy industries; efforts to hinder domestic fossil fuel production, halt pipeline approvals and shut down American mines; and considerations behind the decision to re-nominate a Federal Reserve chairman who has presided over 40-year highs in inflation.
In November 2021, with gas prices and inflation already rising, Biden asked the FTC to investigate whether the oil and gas industry had been illegally profiteering or price gouging American customers, according to a tweet from the White House.
When Biden asked for regulators to investigate oil and gas companies, ExxonMobil and Chevron were predicted to double their net income over 2019, according to USA Today. Patrick De Haan, GasBuddy's head of petroleum analysis, said to the newspaper, "Throughout 2021, but specially this summer and fall, demand has outpaced supply significantly, and that has provided the catalyst for why oil and gas prices have continued to go up."
Congressman Dan Newhouse (R-WA) believes the Biden administration is to blame for where the country stands today amid high energy prices. In early March, he said on his website, "By effectively shutting down our own supply of critical oil and gas, the Biden administration increased our reliance on foreign countries for our energy needs, increased global emissions and increased gas prices for American families."
Both the FTC and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division enforce the federal antitrust laws. In some areas their authorities overlap, but in practice the two agencies complement each other. Before opening an investigation, the agencies consult with one another to avoid duplicating efforts.
The FGI is a nonpartisan organization that works to demand transparency and integrity from government agencies and elected officials.
