Earlier, we told you about Jen Psaki taking a moment to offer up a very simple explanation for the staggering increase in gas prices: it’s pretty much all Vladimir Putin’s fault. Some people wondered why Psaki was tapped to deliver that message when we’ve got a perfectly good president who’s perfectly capable of explaining things to us honestly sometimes able to read words off of a teleprompter without forgetting who he is or what he’s talking about.
Well, for what it’s worth, Joe Biden does have some thoughts on this matter and on the matter of inflation in general. Or at least someone had some thoughts on it and was kind enough to write them down for Joe Biden to sign off on:
they’re really leaning in on this one pic.twitter.com/E6LRgICkAE
— Sam Stein (@samstein) March 10, 2022
This sounds like he's running against Putin in an election. https://t.co/WtzKTEKpSm
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) March 10, 2022
It does, doesn’t it? Not only did Vladimir Putin deliver the 2016 election to Donald Trump on a silver platter, but now he’s raising gas prices in America. Damn that Putin and his price hikes!
No, seriously. The White House needs us to know that this is all Putin’s fault and that neither Biden nor his terrible policies have anything to do with the situation we currently find ourselves in. That’s why, in addition to Biden’s statement, the White House has put out a whole Twitter thread to explain everything to us in words that even we rubes can understand:
Since Putin began his military buildup on Ukrainian borders, the price of gas at the pump in America went up 75 cents.
Here’s Putin’s price hike explained:
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 10, 2022
“Putin’s price hike, explained.”
*Biden's https://t.co/JrAgdUmYjj
— jimtreacher.substack.com (@jtLOL) March 10, 2022
Since Biden began his presidency, the price of gas at the pump in America went up nearly 2 dollars.
Here’s Biden’s price hike explained^ https://t.co/zo2PekahkX
— Nathan Brand (@NathanBrandWA) March 10, 2022
No, stick with ’em. It’s Putin’s fault, they promise!
There is widespread consensus that the runup of energy prices since January was caused by the building of Putin’s troops at Ukraine’s border. Russia is the world’s 3rd largest oil producer, and energy supply disruptions and market volatility are a result of Putin’s aggression.
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 10, 2022
“Widespread consensus”! Among Democrats and members of the Biden administration who don’t want to take any responsibility for their actions, but hey. Consensus is consensus.
Putin’s war won’t be painless for Americans, but we are doing everything we can to limit the impact on families.
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 10, 2022
Our Administration secured the release of 60 million barrels from our and our allies’ Strategic Petroleum Reserves. And producers have the capacity and the opportunity to increase domestic production here in the U.S.
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 10, 2022
Funny. We could’ve sworn that producers had the capacity, but not the opportunity. We must be mistaken.
U.S. oil production is approaching record highs and we pumped more oil in @POTUS's first year than Trump’s first year. Oil production is projected to be up more than 1M barrels/day from January to December this year, and to rise nearly 700K barrels/day over the next year. pic.twitter.com/kdijn3qm8f
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 10, 2022
U.S. natural gas production is at a record high. In fact, the U.S. was a net exporter of petroleum and petroleum products in each of the last two years, and will be a net exporter of natural gas for years to come. pic.twitter.com/T0q5Z1Egr2
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 10, 2022
While U.S. oil and gas production are approaching record highs, producers have the opportunity to ramp domestic production even further.
On federally leased land, companies have 9,000 unused permits to drill onshore. pic.twitter.com/De1WpjXtYQ
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 10, 2022
Despite this record-breaking production and opportunity, the reality is our economic and national security will remain vulnerable to the whims of those who control the oil supply chain across the world if we continue to rely on fossil fuels.
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 10, 2022
To achieve energy security and avoid volatile fossil fuel prices in the longer term, we must become energy independent. That is why President Biden is focused on the deployment of clean energy technologies that don’t require fossil fuels bought and sold on the global market.
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 10, 2022
Joe Biden is gonna clean up our energy real good, just you wait.
We made huge progress in President Biden’s first year in office, adding more than 30,000 megawatts of wind and solar power to reach record levels – and doubling sales of electric vehicles. pic.twitter.com/EdY2dMVzs7
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 10, 2022
But in the long term we must speed up – not slow down – our transition to a clean energy future. The President has proposed credits to make EVs more affordable and weatherize homes and businesses that will cut energy costs and save American families an average of $500 a year.
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 10, 2022
When we have electric cars powered by clean energy, we will never have to worry about gas prices again. And autocrats like Putin won’t be able to use fossil fuels as weapons against other nations.
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 10, 2022
Why can’t we set our sights even higher than electric cars powered by clean energy? What’s stopping us from taming wild winged unicorns who run on magic and rainbows and using them for transportation instead?
We’re just being silly, of course. We need to stay realistic and focus on clean energy that will be free and free us from the shackles of fossil fuels.
Electricity, you see, just flies through the air. https://t.co/i7oNgIqKQs
— Chad Felix Greene 🇮🇱🇺🇦 (@chadfelixg) March 10, 2022
It doesn’t?
Electric cars that are powered with electricity from fossil fuel burning plants, run on tires made with petroleum, and drive down roads made with oil-based asphalt. https://t.co/18ypTnt5ef
— Joe Cunningham (@JoePCunningham) March 10, 2022
Do any of these people ever have to answer where the lithium for batteries comes from? https://t.co/RONfdzRC8g
— Kate Hyde (@KateHydeNY) March 10, 2022
China, right?
NYT recently reported that Hunter Biden's firm helped broker a deal for China to buy the world's largest deposit of cobalt, which is used to make electric car batteries. https://t.co/QC0Tv9h8yw
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) March 10, 2022
Don’t worry, we’re sure they’re very clean.
Putin will be dead for decades before we could come close to being a country that cut out fossil fuel out of its entire energy-to-transport ecosystem. https://t.co/S1sPPN5uQ6
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) March 10, 2022
That’s OK. If we’ve learned anything from the Biden administration, it’s that we can blame Vladimir Putin and Russia for all the fallout from the Biden administration’s energy policies forever and ever.
Putin has a time machine, dontcha know:
Me: Putin is a reckless leader and poor strategist, but he has a lot of weapons so we should deal with him prudently.
The White House: Vladimir Putin traveled through time to wreck the US economy. https://t.co/J6spciqp97
— Luke Thompson (@ltthompso) March 10, 2022
In case you haven’t figured it out by now, we’re not actually impressed with the White House’s efforts to gaslight us. We’ve just been trying to have a little fun with them because Lord knows they’re not giving us anything to smile about.
Reported for misinformation. https://t.co/c6p6ZAfQSH
— Citizen #4392023 – I Walk The Line (@Citizen4392023) March 10, 2022
Yep. Here’s real, honest-to-goodness misinformation for you, Twitter. On a silver platter. From the White House, no less! Maybe you guys should do something about it, because we’re not seeing what it adds to the national discourse.
Other than reasons to loathe the Biden administration, of course.
This is insulting. https://t.co/8PIrLwicOB
— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) March 10, 2022
The entire Biden administration is an insult.
Our politics would be markedly improved if our elected representatives and their consultants didn’t operate under the assumption that you’re an idiot.
— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) March 10, 2022
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