By Karen Stokes
President Joe Biden
President Joe Biden recently announced his strategy to provide Americans relief from the high gas prices.
According to NBC news, the Labor Department said the country had experienced the highest rate of inflation in 40 years last month, driven primarily by gas prices along with increases in the price of groceries, rent and new cars.
“As Americans are experiencing inflation, it’s reflected in the data that was released on prices in March, Americans are facing problems at the pumps due to the actions of President Putin in Ukraine,” said David Kamin, deputy director of the National Economic Council. “Since the military buildup in January, we have seen gas prices rise over 80 cents per gallon at points in March it was over a dollar higher.”
“The president has been clear that there will be pain that will be felt as a result of the actions in Ukraine concerning gas prices. One step we took a couple of weeks ago was the largest release from the strategic petroleum reserve in history,” Kamin said.
According to the White House briefing, the administration’s strategy to spur the development of homegrown biofuels is critical to expanding Americans’ options for affordable fuel in the short-term and to building real energy independence in the long-term by reducing our reliance on fossil fuels.
The EPA Administrator is planning to allow E15 gasoline—gasoline that uses a 15% ethanol blend—to be sold this summer. This is the latest step in expanding Americans’ access to affordable fuel supply and bringing relief to Americans suffering from Putin’s Price Hike at the pump.
David Kamin, deputy director of the National Economic Council
E15 is currently available at 2,300 gas stations in the country, where it can serve as an important and more price friendly source of fuel.
“The E15 option the president announced is an example on how the president is focused on using all the tools at his disposal to help address the fuel emergency,” Kamin said.
An emergency waiver can help increase fuel supplies, give consumers more choice to get lower prices and provide savings to many families. At current prices, E15 can save a family 10 cents per gallon of gas on average, and many stores sell E15 at an even greater discount.
For working families eager to travel and visit their loved ones that will add up to real savings. Allowing higher levels of blending will also reduce our dependence on foreign fuels as we rely more heavily on home-grown biofuels. This will help us bridge towards real energy independence.
“As the president laid out in a recent speech, he has a two-part plan that consists of immediately increasing the supply and focusing on establishing real energy independence in the United States,” Kamin explained. “We’re not going to find that independence at the bottom of an oil well. Right now, the United States is the number one producer of oil in the world.”
These actions are critical to building real energy independence and protecting Americans from volatile prices by reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. Together, they will create good-paying jobs, support American agriculture and manufacturing, and accelerate the transition to clean energy.