A coalition of 11 Democratic senators has asked President Joe Biden in a letter to take extreme steps to combat soaring gas prices, including banning the export of US-sourced crude oil and drawing on resources stored in the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Report informs referring to The Epoch Times.
Since Biden’s inauguration, data from the US Energy Information Administration shows that average gas prices have increased every month, shooting up from $2.42 per gallon in January to $3.384 per gallon in October.
These increased prices have been a rallying cry for Republicans against the administration in the past, with one coalition of Republicans calling on Biden to reverse his “anti-American energy policies.”
The signatories of the letter insisted that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which the senators allege has “purposefully manipulate[d] gas prices” by limiting the supply of oil, is responsible for the rising costs.
Still, the senators insist that, “as the United States work[s] to boost the development of clean and renewable energy over the long-term, we must ensure that Americans are able to afford to fill up their cars at the pump in the meantime,” echoing a similar statement made by the president at the United Nations climate change conference.
The senators emphasized the urgency of the situation, noting that gas prices are currently the highest that they have been since 2014 and have increased by $1 on average compared to this time last year.