Gas prices hit a record high on Tuesday shortly before news surfaced that President Joe Biden plans to cut off Russian oil, natural gas, and coal imports into the U.S.
After one year of torpedoing American energy independence, the Biden administration is attempting to take more serious action against Russia after its sanctions against Vladimir Putin’s regime were criticized for being too little and too late.
Biden’s embargo on Russian oil, however, is only going to exacerbate the crisis he created by refusing to ramp up domestic oil production.
Even before the Russo-Ukraine conflict, Americans were struggling to keep up with rising gas prices under the Biden administration’s policies, which relinquished American energy independence, and the corporate media predictably lied about it.
After Biden wrecked domestic production by suspending oil and gas leases, axed projects such as the Keystone Pipeline, canceled Arctic drilling leases, and pushed a cascade of taxes and regulation on the industry all in his first year in office, domestic gas prices rose dramatically and quickly became a sore spot for Americans, many of whom have indicated they’re looking for a change in the November midterms.
As the White House prepares to roll out its ban on Russia, the world’s largest exporter of oil, to hold the nation “accountable for its unprovoked and unjustified war on Ukraine,” it’s also gearing up to possibly strike a deal with foreign enemies and Russian allies Venezuela and Iran to supplement the oil supply hole left by nixing Russian imports into the U.S., which doubled last year.
Already, the White House sent a delegation to Trump-sanctioned Venezuela to discuss pumping the nation’s state oil into the U.S., and as President Nicolás Maduro said, “for the stability of the world.” Venezuela produces 500 percent more methane than U.S. producers, but Biden, who justified his war on U.S. oil by claiming he wanted to prioritize green energy, seems to have turned a blind eye to that fact and appears to be willing to strike a deal anyway. The White House also seems unbothered that just a couple of years ago, the United States tried to overthrow the Maduro regime but is now hoping it will sell Americans oil.
While most of the West was quick to denounce Putin’s actions in Ukraine, Venezuela and Iran both have boosted their relationships and support for the disgraced nation in the last couple of weeks. In the past year, Russia, communist China, Venezuela, and Iran have all signaled their willingness to team up and exploit the Iran deal against the United States.
The Biden administration previously sought Moscow’s assistance in reviving the Iran nuclear deal, and despite the war in Ukraine, Moscow is still involved in those negotiations.