Sure—as White House press secretaries and fact checkers will assure you over and over—gas prices, like all prices, are influenced by demand and many other economic factors. But, the fact is, since their first day in office, the Biden administration has taken a series of actions that constrain American energy producers while empowering foreign sources like China, Russia and OPEC. And, that pattern is setting Americans up to pay more at the pump in the short and long run of it:

• In January, Biden blocked new oil and gas leases that would allow more domestic U.S. energy exploration. Thankfully, the move was overturned by the courts. But, recently, the White House urged OPEC to reach a compromise “that will allow proposed production increases to move forward” in those countries. Biden is even lifting sanctions on Iran that would allow them to boost their oil production. Biden is effectively choking out the U.S. oil and gas industry, driving up energy prices on everyday Americans, all while firmly establishing our dependence on untrustworthy foreign governments, their oil and the price fluctuations that go with it for years to come.
• On his first day in office, Biden killed the permit for the Keystone pipeline and has created a hostile environment to other U.S. oil and gas pipelines at almost every turn. At the same time, Biden has weakened opposition and waived sanctions—established during both the Obama and Trump administrations—to the Russian Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline to Germany. This is a literal policy of greater access to affordable energy for Germany (from a corrupt, unsavory Russian government that will leverage it to dominate Europe’s energy security) but less access for American families and businesses.
• And, those inflationary fluctuations? Well, those are also a market reaction to all Biden’s big ticket spending proposals that would put this nation in debt for decades to come. In June, consumer prices increased by 5.4 percent. The cost of gasoline has increased 45.1% in the past year and energy has increased 24.5%. American businesses and industry have to pay those exact same increases in energy and gas costs as American families, which means added costs to every other good and service that Americans buy.

Biden and his administration are promoting a politicized agenda to quash American gas and oil production in the name of addressing climate change—despite the fact that the U.S. is a world leader in emissions reductions and has been for years. Sacrificing affordable energy and energy independence to other nations that have no intention of embracing the climate restraints Biden has placed on Americans does in fact cost us—at the gas pumps and in every other walk of life.