Biden announcing a Russian oil ban this morning and pushing an end to remote work while gas is already $4 a gallon
While this is definitely going to raise gas prices, gas price is actually decoupled from demand and we have a lot of oil in reserve that we could release to lower the prices by increasing supply. Gas companies are artificially inflating the price independent of supply because they’re greedy. In reality, Russian gas only accounts for around 8% of oil imports. Biden is definitely fucking up here, but also keep in mind the greed of oil executives and US politicians who invested heavily in energy stocks immediately before the invasion. They see this as a convenient excuse to get rich, blame Biden, and make the conflict seem worse than it actually is to increase defense spending.
Stay angry, but be angry at the right people.
Also don’t forget, the oil companies have a vested interest in making the Democrats look as bad as possible right now, in the middle of the midterm elections. If they can make you hurt at the pump and then get you to blame Biden for it, they can con you into either not voting or voting Republican, and maybe get a Republican Senate out of it.
Oil companies are also pushing for new permits to drill, ignoring the fact that they currently hold over 9,000 unused permits. Which they refuse to use, instead raising prices while demanding the reactivation of the keystone pipeline. Yes, prices are currently outrageous. No, it is not the president’s fault. It is greedy corporations trying to profit off the suffering of others.
I just watched this video that was very helpful in explaining what the oil companies are pulling on the economic side of things.
I’m seeing Long Video Essay Discourse start to rear its head in Twitter so I’m gonna head it off at the pass now: I fucking love super long video essays, they’re an experience I’m happy to tune in to, Youtube recently added chapters to videos so it feels much more segmented, I love this shit and I don’t care if it’s not for you.
