Close to Home: High gas prices are Biden’s fault

Since the start of the Ukraine war, we have heard from Rep. Mike Thompson, The Press Democrat and virtually every Democrat voted into office that the hike at the pumps is squarely the fault of Vladimir Putin. Not so fast.

You’ll recall during the 2020 primary debates, President Joe Biden said there would be no more drilling, including offshore. On his first day in office, the president canceled the Keystone XL Pipeline and suspended new federal oil and gas leases. He followed by hiking drilling fees on federal land and mandated that all federal vehicles be zero emissions. None of this was a surprise, since Biden bragged about his anti-energy campaign during the presidential run.

Actions have consequences, and high gas prices are the predictable result.

When Biden took office, the national average for gas was $2.53 a gallon. I recall a couple of weeks ago, the president saying he was going to work like the devil to address rising gas prices. Not much we can do — it’s Russia’s fault!

Before the war in Ukraine, Biden presided over the largest year over year gas price rise in at least 30 years, due to him announcing his intention to tax and regulate the fossil fuel industry out of existence.

What is the president’s solution? Blame Russia, buy electric vehicles, beg OPEC for a bailout, buy oil from Iran and Venezuela; let’s trade one dictator for another.

How can it be eco-friendly to ship oil on trains and trucks instead of through a pipeline?

There are steps we can take to protect the middle class, and they do not include spending $60,000-plus for an electric vehicle as our secretary of transportation would like us all to do, not realizing that ordinary folks around this country do not have an extra $60,000 lying around.

What steps can we take now to get control over escalating fuel costs? For starters, build the pipeline, increase production and distribution and fast-track energy exports to allies.

We can certainly blame Putin for mass killings of innocent people, including women and children, but when it comes to our pocketbooks, the blame lands squarely on President Biden.

Mick Menendez, the director of advanced planning for Pacific Advisors, is a community member of The Press Democrat Editorial Board.

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