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Floor Speech
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Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss the high cost of energy and the high cost of gasoline prices that are the direct result of the Biden administration's harmful energy policies.
As Americans hit the road over the recent holiday weekend, many noticed something that has become all too familiar under the Biden administration, and that is continued high prices at the gas pump. The average cost of a gallon of gas was about $2.40 on January 20, 2021. Today, consumers are paying at the pump about $3.80 a gallon for gasoline, on average. That is 60 percent higher than when President Biden took office. That hits every one of them right in the pocketbook, particularly those who can afford it the least.
Now, gasoline is like any commodity, wherein prices are high because demand exceeds supply. President Biden's energy policy is the problem. There can be no doubt about that. The main problem is that President Biden's Green New Deal policies are stifling domestic energy production--that is the main problem--but President Biden has literally taken action to put America behind the barrel. It is not just that he is restricting domestic supply; he has also increased our dependence on foreign oil, and our adversaries know it. Let me tell you what I mean.
Since the Biden administration started, it has released 260 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, bringing our Reserve to its lowest level since 1983. Approximately, 350 million barrels remain in the Reserve--350 million barrels. That is down from the alltime high of more than 700 million barrels. So our Reserve, our Strategic Petroleum Reserve, is at less than half of its capacity.
You might have noticed that on Tuesday, September 5, Saudi Arabia and Russia extended a 1.3-million-barrel-a-day cut through December. So they extended a reduction through the end of the year. Saudi Arabia is voluntarily cutting 1 million barrels per day of production while Russia is reducing 300,000 barrels per day of exports. Following that announcement, the price of Brent crude rose to over $90 a barrel, and the price of WTI--West Texas Intermediate--crude rose to almost $87 a barrel. Today, they are up again.
Basically, President Biden has weakened our ability to respond just when we need to. As I say, our adversaries are well aware of it. That is why they are reducing supply--to push the price up.
The real problem is that he has put handcuffs on our producers and is restricting supply here at home, which is the real solution. To add insult to injury, he has also depleted the Reserve because he was trying to keep prices down earlier. Our adversaries know it, and now they are taking advantage of it. Unbelievable. Unbelievable.
Every successful economy depends on having access to low-cost, dependable sources of energy, and our vast supply of Federal oil, gas, and coal resources is one of our Nation's most strategic assets. Yet, instead of harnessing our abundant, taxpayer-owned energy reserves, the Biden administration is taking every imaginable step to curtail new production.
The Interior Department is failing to hold quarterly lease sales onshore and is reducing available acreage both onshore and offshore for leasing. Just today, it was reported that the Biden administration is canceling a congressionally mandated lease sale in Alaska that was awarded in 2021.
Alongside restricting lands available for leasing, the Biden administration is imposing new costs and burdens on Federal energy leases. Maximizing access to new leasing today is directly tied to growing production and supply not only for today but for the long term. Otherwise, production will continue to fail to meet demand, and that means higher prices for American consumers.
Also, our Nation's refining capacity has fallen from 19 million barrels per day in 2020 to about 18 million barrels a day now. We have not built a new refinery in the United States since 1977, and the Biden administration's regulatory onslaught and rush to electric vehicle mandates only drives those gas prices higher.
Instead of empowering more U.S. energy production and encouraging much needed new investment, President Biden drained our strategic petroleum reserve to its lowest level in 40 years, while begging countries like Venezuela and Saudi Arabia to produce more. And as I just said, Russia and OPEC know it, and they are restricting their production to push oil prices higher.
It makes no sense to increase our reliance on Russia and OPEC for energy. These are foreign producers that have little or no regard for environmental stewardship. So think about it. The Biden administration is doing this in the name of environmental stewardship? So they want oil produced in a way that is not environmentally friendly rather than the best environmental standards, which we have here in the United States?
Again, it defies common sense, and it hurts every American consumer. The United States is a global energy powerhouse, and it is time we act like one. Simply put, increasing U.S. energy production and refining capacity is the ultimate solution to bringing more supply, thereby lowering prices at the pump and providing hard-working families and businesses the relief from high energy prices they need and they deserve. That is why President Biden needs to take the handcuffs off and unleash the full potential of America's vast energy reserves.
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