The Sconi

Energy prices are surging in Wisconsin and the nation as the Biden Administration continues to limit domestic energy production. The Interior Department (DOI) reversed plans last week on oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska. 

One Wisconsin senator supports federal oil drilling, while the other is opposed to it, as they split votes for a bill that would increase U.S. production. On May 4, Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson was one of the 53 Senate Republicans who voted in favor of Sen. John Barrasso’s (R-WY) plan to ensure the immediate planning of a new five-year federal offshore oil and gas leasing plan. Sen. Tammy Baldwin was one of 44 Democrats who voted against the proposal. The plan, which aims to lower gas prices in the U.S., would ensure lease sales for oil and gas expeditions in the Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of Alaska.  

"The domestic actions that restrict oil production worsen the inflation problems and the budget squeezes that too many families are facing across the states" Wayne Winegarden, a Senior Fellow in Business and Economics with the Pacific Research Institute, told The Sconi on May 12. "The expectation of greater supply by allowing more oil production would help reduce gas prices quickly and incentivize greater supply, which could help offset some of the inflationary pressures." 

Administration officials disagreed with this assessment.   

“Production is essentially higher than it’s been in a couple decades,” DOI Sec. Deb Haaland said during a congressional hearing two weeks ago . “On the federal lands, we’re doing what we need to do and we’re following the law and making sure that we are moving those issues forward.”

President Biden released an executive order halting all new oil and gas leasing on federal areas after taking office. He has since prevented a number of oil leases from starting. The administration has canceled oil and gas lease sales in Alaska's Cook Inlet due to lack of industry interest and in the Gulf of Mexico because of "contradictory court rulings," the Hill reported May 12. The lease in Alaska would have covered more than 1 million acres, according to the Hill report.

The Hill reports that the administration's new policy comes at a time when Biden’s approval ratings on economic policy have fallen. Congressional Republicans have continued to stand against the administration’s energy decisions after average nationwide gas prices reached an all-time high recently.

On May 12, the national gas price average was $4.42 per gallon, a 7.8% hike from a month previous when the average was $4.10 per gallon, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA). On March 31, the day of the SPR release, gas was $4.22 per gallon, 20 cents lower than in the present. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data establishes that aggregate oil production in the U.S. has been on the decrease for three consecutive months, not matching the claims of administration officials' that domestic production is at historic highs.