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The US was an energy exporter before Biden was inaugurated as president. It isn't anymore. Biden's energy advisor Amos Hochstein says this is a good thing. "When energy was plentiful under the Trump Administration it undermined the incentive for Americans to switch to green alternatives," Hochstein said. "The steps that President Biden has taken to reduce the availability gasoline, diesel, and natural gas have led to sharp increases in the prices of these non-renewable sources of energy. So, not only is it harder to get these fuels, it is also more costly. While this may be painful for consumers in...

Inflation is crippling rural America and driving some people to consider moving closer to cities in an effort to ease the financial stress, according to the latest analysis from one expert. Iowa State University professor Dave Peters has been studying the effect of inflation on people in rural communities as part of the school's Small Town Project. He found that this year alone, expenses for rural Americans had increased by 9.2%, but their earnings only increased by 2.6%. And Peters has pinpointed where it's hurting most. "Mainly, fuel prices, particularly among the farmer and agricultural community," he said. "They really...

(Reuters) - The White House is "dusting off old plans" for a potential release of oil reserves to dampen rising gasoline prices and prevent high energy costs from undermining the success of Iran sanctions, a source with knowledge of the situation said on Thursday. U.S. officials will monitor market conditions over the coming weeks, watching whether gasoline prices fall after the September 3 Labor Day holiday, as they historically do, the source said. It was too early to say how big a drawdown would be from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve and, potentially, other international reserves if a decision to...

Siphoning oil from strategic reserve fails to cut pricesThe results are in from President Obama’s controversial decision last month to tap into the nation’s oil reserves to drive down gas prices: none. Like his futile efforts to revive the moribund U.S. economy by spending $1 trillion in borrowed money, the president’s release of 30 million barrels from the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve produced nothing more than a brief pause in the steady rise in prices at the pump. Nearly three years into an energy policy designed to hector Americans into accepting pointless “green” alternatives, the president seems to have finally...

Gas prices to blame for Obama administration releasing oil reserves? By: MJ Lee July 2, 2011 05:00 PM EDT President Barack Obama has pressed repeatedly for a long-term energy policy, devoting five weekly radio addresses to the subject in the past three months and blasting other politicians during a March press conference for pursuing short-term political fixes for high gas prices. “Every few years, gas prices go up; politicians pull out the same old political playbook and then nothing changes,” Obama said. “And when prices go back down, we slip back into a trance. And then when prices go up,...

I was just wondering if some knowledgeable freepers could enlighten me on Obama's release from the strategic reserves and the sudden and severe drop in oil prices that occurred within minutes of his announcing it. I'm wondering exactly who has to agree with this for it to happen, or is this something that is entirely up to the President's whim. The reason its been bothering me is a few weeks ago I heard about a group of traders that slowly bought up millions of barrels of oil on the open market over a span of months. It was small purchases...

Politics: With Democrats' poll numbers in the dumps, President Obama has decided to release some of the U.S. strategic petroleum reserves to cut prices at the pump. Problem is, its only real "strategic" purpose is politics. The White House announced Thursday that for only the third time in history, the U.S. would release 30 million barrels of oil from the national stockpile. America's 727 million barrel-strong reserve, buried deep in the salt domes of Texas and Louisiana, was created in the wake of the 1973 Arab oil embargo. It's always been meant to cushion the U.S. economy against shocks from...

Energy: Hillary Clinton wants to tap the U.S. petroleum stockpile to increase supply and lower the price. Brazil has found a better way — drill for more. And what about that strategic reserve her husband vetoed — ANWR?On the night last week that light sweet crude and home heating oil set records of $98.62 a barrel and $3.11 a gallon on the New York Merc, Mrs. Clinton urged the president "to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and the Northwest Heating Oil Reserve to send a signal to the market and ease concerns about low crude oil stocks that...

Hurricane Katrina slashed U.S. oil production by 1.4 million barrels a day -- the global equivalent of suddenly losing two-thirds of all oil produced by Iraq or Kuwait. "President George W. Bush has responded quickly to Hurricane Katrina," said a Bloomberg report, "suggesting that Hurricane Ivan last year taught him a lesson about opening up the reserve." Energy Secretary Bodman announced he had "approved a request for a loan of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve" and "continues to review other requests as they come in.'' That announcement should have been made by the president at least a week before...