Biden is to blame for rising gas prices. America needs to expand energy production.

Gasoline prices had already hit a record high the morning that President Joe Biden announced a ban on Russian energy imports on March 8.

The last time average gas prices topped $4 a gallon was in 2008, when George W. Bush was president. At that time, the White House worked with the Department of the Interior to expand American energy production. By contrast, the Biden administration has been curbing oil and gas drilling. This means that today’s pain at the pump is unlikely to disappear anytime soon.

Gasoline prices soared in the summer of 2008. President George W. Bush responded by encouraging the Department of Interior to leave no stone unturned to boost American oil production. Ultimately, in July 2008, he lifted a presidential directive his father had issued restricting offshore oil drilling. Since then, American technical innovation, enterprise and energy workers have powered a domestic energy renaissance.

President Donald Trump leaned into this renaissance. He saw energy production as vital for America’s economy and national security. President Trump’s America First energy policy focused on expanding sensible energy development from all sources.

Under his leadership, the federal government made getting drilling permits faster and easier, opened more land to energy production, and maintained environmental safeguards. During Trump’s tenure, the number of federal drilling permits the Department of Interior issued nearly doubled.

Priorities on energy

These reforms expanded the energy renaissance from private to federal lands – increasing American energy production considerably. U.S. oil production more than doubled from 5 million barrels per day in 2008 to 12.3 million in 2019.

Under President Trump, America began producing more energy than it consumed – making America energy independent for the first time since the 1950s. Gasoline prices consequently remained low throughout his term.

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As soon as he became president, Biden reversed course, prioritizing climate activism over energy independence.

On the first day of the Biden administration, the Department of the Interior's acting leadership revoked their subordinates’ authority to “issue any onshore or offshore fossil fuel authorization” for new operations. A handful of political appointees would individually make these decisions instead of dozens of qualified professional staff.

At Biden’s direction, the Interior Department also suspended oil and gas leasing in the small portions of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge that were opened to drilling.

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And just last month, the Biden administration froze all applications for new oil and gas development on federal lands and waters. It remains to be seen whether Biden and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland will renew offshore oil lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico that will expire in June.

Unwinding energy progress

Not coincidentally, the number of drilling permits the Bureau of Land Management approved for federal lands dropped by 80% between December 2020 and December 2021. And despite the post-COVID-19 economic rebound, American oil production fell in 2021. The Trump administration spent years expediting oil permitting. The Biden administration has unwound that progress.

Liberal groups have criticized the Biden administration for issuing more drilling permits in its first year than Trump did in his. These criticisms are misleading. The Trump administration spent four years reforming the permitting process to facilitate oil and gas drilling. During Trump’s tenure, the number of federal drilling permits the Department of Interior issued nearly doubled. The Biden administration unwound most of that progress in less than 12 months.

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Unsurprisingly, gas prices have risen on Biden’s watch. When Biden took office, regular gasoline cost an average of $2.33 a gallon. By the end of January of this year – before the Ukraine crisis – regular gasoline prices had risen to $3.37 a gallon. Now gas costs more than $4 a gallon.

Elections have consequences. Biden during his candidacy was open about his desire to reorder the American energy landscape. The Biden administration has since focused on limiting domestic energy production.

The American people will now spend the next three years finding out exactly how much they will pay – both at the pump and for our national security – for his administration’s hostility to American energy.

David Bernhardt served as secretary at the U.S. Department of Interior during the Trump administration. He is chair of the Center for American Freedom at the America First Policy Institute.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden's policies drove up gas prices before Russia attacked Ukraine