“Gasoline prices in the United States rose on Tuesday to their highest level in four years as peace talks between the United States and Iran appeared at an impasse.” – New York Times
Here at the Department of Energy, we want to reassure Americans that, while the war we’ve already won shows no signs of ending and oil prices remain over $100 a barrel, we are taking decisive action to ensure that, under no circumstances, Americans will ever need to drive a fuel-efficient vehicle.
We’ve heard your complaints about the high price of gasoline. Don’t worry. We’re prepared. We’ve been hoarding oil in underground salt caverns for exactly this kind of unpredictable situation: where we flagrantly start a war with the world’s fifth-largest oil producer that controls access to 20 percent of global supply, which disrupts global supplies.
In fact, we’ve already begun releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which we’ve been kind of obsessed with maintaining since the 1970s energy crisis, which also coincidentally had to do with Iran.
Over the next three months, we’ll release the equivalent of 1.4 million barrels of oil per day. That should more than offset the 14.5 million barrels per day that we’ve removed from the market. Trust us, the math works.
And we’re sending that oil where it matters most: to Europe, where Americans routinely buy their gasoline.
We’re not working alone: our international partners are set to release 400 million barrels of oil globally. So as the war enters its third month, Americans can take comfort in knowing that, spread out over spring and summer, a handful of countries are putting the equivalent of a long weekend’s worth of global oil consumption into the market. Which should have solved the oil supply problem if the war had ended when it began.
But supply is only half of the equation. We’re also tackling demand. We’re rolling back fuel efficiency standards, suing states that tried to make cars cleaner, and cutting support for electric vehicles, ensuring that Americans continue to rely on gasoline for generations to come.
Critics who like “breathing fresh air” say we should follow international examples and ban the sale of gasoline cars, pursue an electric-vehicle future, and invest in public transit. We’re taking a different approach: allowing cars to emit more pollution.
Finally, we’re working to stabilize markets by sending a clear and consistent signal about our strategy, including whether we want the Strait of Hormuz open, whether we plan to negotiate, and whether this war will end at all.
Because at the end of the day, is it even worth going to war if you’re not driving a gas-guzzling car?