Gasoline prices had already hit a record high the morning that President Joe Biden announced a ban on Russian energy imports on March 8.
The last time average gas prices topped $4 a gallon was in 2008, when George W. Bush was president. At that time, the White House worked with the Department of the Interior to expand American energy production. By contrast, the Biden administration has been curbing oil and gas drilling. This means that today’s pain at the pump is unlikely to disappear anytime soon.
Gasoline prices soared in the summer of 2008. President George W. Bush responded by encouraging the Department of Interior to leave no stone unturned to boost American oil production. Ultimately, in July 2008, he lifted a presidential directive his father had issued restricting offshore oil drilling. Since then, American technical innovation, enterprise and energy workers have powered a domestic energy renaissance.
Priorities on energy
These reforms expanded the energy renaissance from private to federal lands – increasing American energy production considerably. U.S. oil production more than doubled from 5 million barrels per day in 2008 to 12.3 million in 2019.
Under President Trump, America began producing more energy than it consumed – making America energy independent for the first time since the 1950s. Gasoline prices consequently remained low throughout his term.
As soon as he became president, Biden reversed course, prioritizing climate activism over energy independence.
On the first day of the Biden administration, the Department of the Interior’s acting leadership revoked their subordinates’ authority to “issue any onshore or offshore fossil fuel authorization” for new operations. A handful of political appointees would individually make these decisions instead of dozens of qualified professional staff.
At Biden’s direction, the Interior Department also suspended oil and gas leasing in the small portions of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge that were opened to drilling.