Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm on June 22 addressed actions being taken by the Biden administration to ease the burden of historic gas prices.
Granholm said that as the summer driving season continues to unfold, Americans pay more at the pump each time they fill up their tanks, according to a White House press release.
The United States is not the only nation feeling the pain at the pump, she said.
“If you went to the UK (United Kingdom) today, for a gallon equivalent, you would be paying $7.71,” Granholm said in the release. “If you went to France, you’d be paying $8.49. If you went to Canada, you’d be paying over $6 per gallon. If you went to Singapore, you’d be paying over $9 per gallon. So, it’s happening around the world.”
Granholm said the two causes of record high gas prices are the war in Ukraine and the supply chain crisis due to COVID-19, the release stated.
“Russia is a very high exporter of oil,” Granholm said. “Because of the invasion of Ukraine, countries like the United States and Canada rightfully have said, we are not going to take any Russian oil. Therefore, about a million barrels per day have been taken off the market (because) of that. And secondly, the supply and refining capacity constraints that have been created by COVID-19 in the United States but also around the world."
President Joe Biden is asking Congress to suspend the national gas tax, according to the release. Biden has also requested the oil industry develop refinery solutions to decrease prices.
Granholm stressed that this won’t be the last time America feels the ill effects of “gas price shock.”
“The next time there’s a war, the next time there’s a pandemic or another hurricane, these extreme weather events we are experiencing, they will impact the access that we have to fossil fuels,” Granholm said. “The only way out of these boom-and-bust cycles is to break that sole reliance, and that means diversifying our fuel sources by deploying clean energy.”
