With gas prices up across the nation, the Biden administration has invoked the Defense Production Act, a move that was criticized by the Functional Government Initiative. | Yassine Khalfalli (Unspash.com)
With gas prices up across the nation, the Biden administration has invoked the Defense Production Act, a move that was criticized by the Functional Government Initiative. | Yassine Khalfalli (Unspash.com)
With gas prices the highest they have been since 2008 and inflation at the highest it’s been since 1981, the Biden administration recently announced that it will invoke the Defense Production Act (DPA).
The decision comes as the administration is trying to ease potential supply chain concerns for electric vehicle parts, according to the Functional Government Initiative website.
The move is another way for the Biden administration to move the public away from gasoline and toward electric vehicles, FGI reported. The order reportedly will move funds to private projects surrounding the extraction of minerals used for building electric car batteries. This includes lithium, cobalt, graphite, nickel, and manganese.
“Exploring the expansion of domestic extraction of minerals is a good step because it may create jobs for the next generation of American workers, but it does not tackle the current fuel crisis,” said FGI spokesperson Peter McGinnis. “We are on month two of ‘we will do everything we can to lower gas prices,’ yet nothing of substance has been done to accomplish that – as you can see every time you fill up your tank. Either the administration is hoping the problem will fix itself or that Americans will surrender to astronomically high gas prices. Neither scenario appears plausible. Along with inflation in general, energy prices are crushing the American dream. FGI will continue its investigation of which special interests are dictating the government’s handling of this energy crisis.”
The decision to involve the DPA comes when gas prices have hit record levels for a second consecutive month, according to the American Automobile Association. The national average for gasoline, according to the AAA website, is $4.07, and in Pennsylvania, it is even higher at $4.16. Gas prices have dropped slightly over the past month, but prices are still much higher than they were a year ago when the average price was $2.97 per gallon.
The Biden administration has often blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian invasion of Ukraine for inflation, however FGI pointed out that inflation and skyrocketing gas prices occurred before the invasion.
The move could reduce United States reliance on China if increasing the supply of essential minerals is successful, FGI reported. However, there is uncertainty how it would affect inflation in the short term.
The FGI is an organization that demands transparency and integrity from government agencies and officials, according to its website. It has expressed concerns over the federal government’s response and actions taken to reduce the price of gas, which FGI called “perplexing.”
“Opening up the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and calls to hostile dictators have formed the crux of their approach while requests to reconsider opposition to pipeline infrastructure and oil and gas leases and financing have repeatedly been rejected,” the FGI report stated. “The question of which special interests are influencing the government’s anti-fossil fuel policy amid an energy crisis remains the focus of several of FGI’s ongoing investigations and requests for government records.”
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