(CNSNews.com) – President Biden denied Wednesday that his decision to release an additional 15 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is politically motivated.
When asked what his response is to Republicans saying he’s only doing that to help the Democrats in the midterms, Biden said, “Where have they been the last four months? That’s my response.”
“Is it politically motivated, sir, this move three weeks before the midterms?” a reporter asked following the president’s announcement on Wednesday.
“No, it’s not,” Biden said.
“Look, it’s makes sense. I’ve been doing this for how long now? It’s not politically motivated at all. It’s motivated to make sure that I continue to push on what I’ve been pushing on, and that is making sure there’s enough oil that’s being pumped by the companies so that we have the ability to be able to produce enough gas that we need here at home, oil we need here at home, and, at the same time, keep moving in the direction of providing for alternative energy,” he said.
“That’s what I’ve been doing. Now, the problem is: These guys were asleep. I don’t know where they’ve been, and they seem — you know. The price at the pump should reflect what the price of a barrel of oil costs, and it’s not going down consistently,” the president said.
Biden said that despite the SPR drawdown, the country also “needs to pass permitting reform to accelerate the development of clean energy.”
“Right now, the process of getting clean energy projects approved is too cumbersome and too time consuming. So, I’m asking the Congress: Pass a permitting bill to speed up the approval of all kinds of energy production from wind, to solar, to clean hydrogen, because we need to get this moving now, quickly — now,” he said.
“It would take — you know, this — if we do this, it would take the historic clean energy investments that I signed into law and put them into action,” the president said.
He pointed to an independent analysis that found “the $369 billion we’re making in federal investments” will “generate $1.7 trillion in total public and private investments in the years ahead.”
“You can increase oil and gas production now while still moving full speed ahead to accelerate our transition to clean energy. That way — that way, we can lower energy costs for American families, enhance our national security at a very difficult moment,” Biden said.
The president said that it’s possible to “build a clean energy economy for the future” while strengthening energy security now.