Just in time for summer driving season (and election season), President Biden is tapping another fuel reserve in an attempt to bring down gas prices. The latest move was announced this spring, a release of one million barrels of gasoline from reserves in the Northeast. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm touted the release, noting it's coming between Memorial Day and July 4th in order to have the greatest impact on summer driving.
So far, the results have been minimal. AAA's current average price for regular unleaded is $3.50 per gallon, down eight cents from a month ago and only five cents cheaper than a year ago. Regardless of the results, experts point out that reserves like this are not meant for this purpose. "There is no economic reason to do this," says Karr Ingham, economist with the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers. "We don't have shortages, we don't have any supply freeze or crisis occurring, we have an election upcoming...that's it, that's the only crisis that the president is facing right now."
Biden has done this before, as he drained the Strategic Petroleum Reserves to historic lows as record high gas prices plagued the country during the 2022 midterm election year. Again, this was not done for any economic, supply, or national security emergency. "It was pure politics," says Ingham. "But it jeopardizes the reasons those reserves were put into place to begin with. And should we happen to have such an emergency, well there we are, left holding the bag without enough product potentially to address it."
"Frankly, it's a desperation move," he continues. "And we should all be losing our patience and tolerance for this nonsense."
Photo: Moment RF