Pilfering America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve for Politics

A review of the Biden administration’s last 22 months reveals an energy policy only a die-hard progressive loyalist would call good for America. Are President Joe Biden’s reckless actions a serious threat to national security? Drawing down the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to record lows is just the latest move to ensure the United States takes second place – or possibly third – in direct economic and military competition with China and Russia.

Like it or not, America's military will go to war using fossil fuels for the foreseeable future because they are the most reliable and plentiful energy source. In extremis, the country would depend on the SPR to augment existing supplies. Its total capacity of 714 million barrels of crude oil have made the reserve "a significant deterrent to oil import cutoffs and a key tool in foreign policy," the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response explained.

Playing fast and loose with facts has become almost expected in White House statements, especially where numbers are involved. "Because of the actions we've taken, gas prices are declining. That's adding up to real savings for families. Today, the most common price of gas in America is $3.39 — down from over $5 when I took office," the president told a gathering in Syracuse, NY.

Biden Energy Policies Cause High Gas Prices

It's unclear why the chief executive says things that are so easily checked and so patently false. For the record, when Joe Biden took office on Jan. 20, 2021, average gasoline prices were $2.38 per gallon. “And the average price of gasoline surged past $5 a gallon for the first time in June, 17 months after Biden took office. Overall, gas prices are more than 57% higher than they were when the president took office," Thomas Catenacci reported for Fox Business.

That's just the president trying to explain away a fuel price inflation that he created. But trying to cover up the energy price increase by selling off the SPR is something entirely different. The administration is purposefully reducing America's reliable reserves of fossil fuel, which could be pivotal in a national emergency. Then the same folks concoct explanations to convince taxpayers that the White House has gas prices under control. Nonetheless, in one year, from the end of October 2021 to the end of October 2022, President Biden has reduced the SPR by 34%, from 612.5 million barrels to 401.7 million.

Strategic Petroleum Reserve Is Crucial for National Security

There are other points of view. With the Democrats performing miserably in the polls leading up to the midterm elections on Nov. 8, the attempt to lower pump prices by pilfering the SPR is all too transparent. "It's easy to see the political motivation behind President Joe Biden's plan. Retail gasoline prices are on the rise again and threaten Democrats' chances in the Nov. 8 midterm elections," Dan Eberhart, CEO of Canary, LLC, explained in his Forbes article "Biden Sacrifices National Security for Midterm Votes With SPR Drawdown." It's hard to see this being good for the commander-in-chief of the US armed forces, the person responsible for American sons and daughters in harm's way. The SPR is certainly not a presidential plaything to be used at politically inspired whim to reverse plummeting approval ratings.

The defense of America depends on oil now as it has in the past. For example, "The leaders of every nation involved in World War II were aware of how crucial oil supplies were to their war plans," wrote military historian Michael Antonucci in his article "Blood for Oil." Winston Churchill explained the need for oil during World War II more succinctly: "Above all, petrol governed every movement." It still does. Until America's enemies install battery charging stations on the battlefields, fossil fuels will be the critical resource to win wars. Depleting the SPR puts US warfighting capability at risk.

The views expressed are those of the author and not of any other affiliation.