In The News
Weekly Column: Biden Admin’s SPR Mismanagement Costing Taxpayers
Washington,
November 6, 2023
Recently, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm announced the U.S. would purchase up to 6 million barrels of oil at a costly $79 per barrel to replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). Unfortunately, this is a problem of the Administration’s own making. In March 2020, President Trump moved to buy oil for the SPR when the price was around $24 per barrel, but Democrats blocked him. Fast forward to 2022 when President Biden drained the SPR to its lowest levels in 40 years to artificially lower gas prices ahead of the Midterm elections. This political decision endangered our energy and national security. When Republicans regained the House majority in 2023, we responded immediately with legislation to unleash American energy and prohibit the Energy Secretary from tapping the SPR until issuing a plan to increase oil and gas production. To take it a step further, I introduced the SPR Transparency Act to end the political games surrounding the SPR. Regardless, there has been an unmet, yet urgent need to refill our emergency oil reserves. Earlier this year, I called on Secretary Granholm to refill the SPR when oil prices dipped below $70. Unfortunately for taxpayers, my call was not answered. Between stopping the SPR from being refilled in 2020 and the Biden Administration’s mismanagement, refilling the SPR today will cost taxpayers at least an additional $330 million. The cost may go even higher because the oil market is currently selling at $90 per barrel, not $79 as the Administration hopes. Additionally, this proposed purchase is likely to cause prices at the pump to go up. This costly lesson in Bidenomics is one Southwest Michigan families should not have to pay for because the President lacks a cohesive energy strategy. I will continue to support an all-of-the-above energy policy that prioritizes American energy production, responsibly refills our SPR, and lowers energy costs for Southwest Michigan families and small businesses. If you need assistance navigating a federal agency, please contact my office in Holland at (616) 251-6741 or in Portage at (269) 569-8595. |