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House Republicans are so desperate to distract from their failed agenda that they’re resorting to more false attacks against House Democrats to cloud the truth – they stood by while Donald Trump and Mike Pence illegally extorted Ukraine and withheld needed defense support in an attempt to boost Trump’s re-election campaign.
Now, as Vladimir Putin wages his vicious war on the Ukrainian people, Americans and consumers around the world are paying Putin’s Price at the gas pump as a result of Russia’s unfounded aggression – emboldened by four years of the Trump administration’s sycophancy to the thuggish dictator.
Here are the facts:
Read more coverage calling out Republicans’ disingenuous attacks:
NBC News: Republicans cheer Russian oil ban and jeer Biden for rising gas prices
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Congressional Republicans are championing President Joe Biden’s decision to ban Russian oil imports to the U.S., a highly anticipated move that could continue to push gas prices to record highs.
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But in the same breath, GOP leaders — eager to win back the House and the Senate this fall — are trying to capitalize by blaming Biden and his energy policies for Americans’ having to pay more at the pump.
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Oil production isn’t a spigot that can just be flipped on, and the domestic market has been suppressed not just by federal rules, but also by an international market that depressed the price and made drilling unprofitable. Democrats point to the thousands of wells that have been approved but aren’t being drilled.
New York Times: Republicans Wrongly Blame Biden for Rising Gas Prices
They have pointed to the Biden administration’s policies on the Keystone XL pipeline and certain oil and gas leases, which have had little impact on prices.
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These claims are misleading. The primary reason for rising gas prices over the past year is the coronavirus pandemic and its disruptions to global supply and demand.
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Moreover, the specific policies cited by Republican lawmakers as evidence of Mr. Biden’s supposed “war on American energy” have had little impact on rising gas prices.
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The claims about oil and gas leases are even more incorrect.
Washington Post: Pence-backed ad falsely blames Biden for hike in purchases of Russian oil
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But here’s the rub — despite President Donald Trump’s enthusiastic backing, the [Keystone XL] pipeline still had not been built, because of court fights and other challenges. So even if Biden had not canceled it, there is little chance it would have been built by now.
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But the Keystone pipeline still would not have been completed by now even if Biden had permitted it to go forward. And imports of Russian oil — still a relatively small part of U.S. energy purchases — have jumped because of factors unrelated to Biden administration actions. So the juxtaposition is so highly misleading that we deem this ad to be a whopper.
Yahoo: Biden’s Republican critics are wrong about U.S. gas production, experts say
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Experts in the economics of energy, however, say that U.S. energy production hasn’t been scaled back by Biden and that Europe’s only path to energy independence is to transition away from fossil fuels.
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“It’s a deeply cynical ploy,” said Tyson Slocum, director of the energy program at Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy watchdog. “These are the same exact talking points they’ve been using for 40 years, and whatever the situation, it shows we should drill more. I’m embarrassed for them to try to exploit a tragedy.”
Newsweek: ‘Little Evidence’ Keystone Pipeline Would Level Prices Despite GOP Claims
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But James Glynn, a senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, said the Keystone pipeline—even if operational—likely wouldn’t have had an impact on the global energy markets.
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“There is little evidence to back up the argument that Keystone XL would have averted some of this price spike,” Glynn told Newsweek. “The Keystone pipeline capacity is less than one-tenth of Russian oil exports.”
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The White House has also emphasized that the Keystone Pipeline was never running, and was less than 10 percent completed when the project was shut down, amid criticism from the Republican Party.
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“The Keystone Pipeline has never been operational,” press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Thursday “It would take years to have any impact. I know a number of members of Congress have suggested that, but that is a proposed solution that has no relationship or would have no impact on what the problem is we, here, all agree is an issue.”
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