"Today's release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is an important policy Band-Aid for rising gas prices but does not solve for the self-inflicted wound that shortsighted energy policy is having on our nation," Manchin, who chairs the US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said.
Earlier on Tuesday, President Joe Biden has announced the release of 50 million barrels of oil from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve in concert with other major energy-consuming nations, including China, India, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom, to stem surging oil prices.
"With an energy transition underway across the country, it is critical that Washington does not jeopardize America's energy security in the near term and leave consumers vulnerable to rising prices," Manchin said. "Historic inflation taxes and the lack of a comprehensive all-of-the-above energy policy pose a clear and present threat to American's economic and energy security that can no longer be ignored."
Manchin went on to say that the Biden administration should boost oil production at home.
"I continue to call on President Biden to responsibly increase energy production here at home and to reverse course to allow the Keystone XL pipeline to be built which would have provided our country with up to 900,000 barrels of oil per day from Canada, one of our closest allies," he said. "To be clear, this is about American energy independence and the fact that hard-working Americans should not depend on foreign actors, like OPEC+, for our energy security and instead focus on the real challenges facing our country's future."
The national average gas price dropped on Tuesday slightly from $3.409 to $3.403 per gallon, while the total monthly decrease reached almost 40 cents, according to American Automobile Association data. However, prices increased by more than $1 as compared to 2020.
Pump prices in the United States have increased sharply over the past year under the Biden administration’s policy to gradually get away from fossil fuels and seek alternative sources of energy and have hit highs above $4.70 per gallon in California on Tuesday.