Montage: Media, Biden admin hot takes on gas prices, green energy
Debate is raging over U.S. energy policy amid soaring gas prices and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and some progressives see an opportunity for green energy and electric cars.
CNN accused those blaming the Biden administration for record high gas prices on Wednesday of spreading "misinformation."
During a "Crude Reality" segment on "CNN Newsroom with Ana Cabrera," the host repeated White House talking points to deflect blame from the current administration’s policies on energy production.
High gas prices have become a top concern for the majority of Americans who were dealing with rising prices of other goods due to inflation. Yet the CNN host told voters they couldn’t blame President Biden.
"Gas prices have hit a record-high again today, $4.25 a gallon, according to AAA, and that's up a staggering 60 cents in just one week. And while there is a lot of understandable anger and frustration over the pain at the pump, there’s also a lot of misinformation going around about who or what is responsible," Cabrera previewed before adding that "no one person or entity is in control of the price of gas."
NPR CORRESPONDENT: POLITICAL REACTION TO GAS PRICES ‘OUT OF PROPORTION’ TO ACTUAL ECONOMIC IMPACT
President Biden announces a ban on Russian oil imports, toughening the toll on Russia's economy in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine, Tuesday, March 8, 2022, in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
She proceeded to "fact-check" other claims, such as that oil production was down.
"That’s not true. The reality is the U.S. oil production is actually up from 2020," the CNN host claimed, even though most of the country was shut down temporarily in 2020.
Cabrera compared oil production during Trump’s first year in office, the lowest they were during his four years, to future projections of oil production during the next two years under Biden, based on the first three months of 2022 alone. She even suggested we would hit "a new record" in domestic oil production under Biden, a dubious claim considering several administration officials have signaled their commitment to the renewable energy over domestic oil production.
"And as you can see here, in Trump’s first year of office, the U.S. was producing 9.3 million barrels of oil per day. Well, now the U.S. is forecast to produce 12 million barrels per day and the experts say that production is on track to hit a new record next year," Cabrera announced. On screen was a graphic displaying U.S. field production of crude oil in average barrels a day since 2017.
Cabrera also knocked conservatives criticizing the president for canceling the Keystone Pipeline as soon as he was inaugurated. She dismissed the pipeline as "unlikely" to have improved gas prices.
"A third claim is that the Keystone Pipeline that, had it been approved, would help lower prices today. The reality here is that's up for debate but unlikely. The Keystone XL Pipeline would have been an extension of a currently operating pipeline it would have acted as a shortcut, taking oil extracted from the tar sands in Canada all the way to Nebraska, from there an existing pipeline would transport the oil to refineries along the Gulf Coast and this would've moved some about 830,000 barrels of oil out of Canada every day. And while it wouldn't have just been U.S.-owned oil, proponents of the pipeline argue buying more oil from Canada is preferable to, say, well, today for instance, Russia. Keep in mind though that the XL pipeline wasn’t expected to be operational until next year at the earliest," the CNN journalist said.
BIDEN OFFICIAL ON IF RUSSIA WILL CONVINCE BIDEN TO REEVALUATE KEYSTONE PIPELINE: ‘NO, THAT’S A DISTRACTION’
White House advisors have also claimed that ramping up oil production here wouldn't lower gas prices. Press secretary Jen Psaki even admitted Wednesday, that restarting construction on the pipeline was not an option, despite previously saying that the administration was looking at all available options to lower gas prices. Conservative radio host Erick Erickson called the Biden adminstration's statements as "literally not true."
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Several other media outlets have scolded voters complaining about high gas prices and inflation this week, and attacked Republicans for using high gas prices to criticize Biden.