Critics Blast Biden Admin for Considering Shutdown of Michigan Pipeline as Energy Prices Predicted to Soar
Shortages are leading to higher energy prices this winter.
Industry officials are predicting significant price hikes, including:
- Propane increasing by 54 percent
- Natural gas up 30 percent, or higher
- Heating oil up 43 percent
- Electricity up 6 percent.
The price of gasoline has jumped another 5 cents and the national average price is currently at $3.49 a gallon.
Speaking on CNN Sunday, Energy Secretary Susan Granholm pointed the finger at the oil and gas industry.
"It will be more expensive this year than last year," she said. "The oil and gas companies are not flipping the switch as quickly as the demand requires."
Last week, President Biden blamed higher oil prices on the refusal by Russia and the OPEC nations to increase production. He declined to say what steps his administration would take but hinted that additional actions were coming.
"We'll see what happens on that score, sooner than later," Biden said.
A White House statement also reiterated without giving specifics, saying “we’ve been in conversations with energy consumer countries and we will consider the full range of tools at our disposal to bolster resilience and public confidence."
Critics say Biden administration policies like shutting down the Keystone Pipeline, have hurt America's energy independence.
The administration also reportedly is considering closing down another pipeline, Michigan's Line 5, which transmits up to 540,000 barrels of crude oil to the state from Canada each day.
Speaking to Fox News on Sunday, Jason Hayes, the director of environmental policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, said the administration's move towards Line 5 is "just one more example of being divorced from reality."
"They're planning to power an industrial nation like the United States on solar panels and wind turbines," Hayes said and noted that even the solar panels and wind turbines require "oil, natural gas, nuclear and even coal" to be produced.
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