Congressman Newhouse Opposed to Biden’s Energy Announcement Thursday

4th District Representative Dan Newhouse is unhappy with President Biden's announcement Thursday that he will be releasing oil out of the country's strategic reserve while also asking Congress to fine or otherwise compel energy companies who have leases but aren't producing to ramp up production.

The U.S. consumes approximately 20 million barrels of oil a day, while President Biden's proposal will release 1 million barrels a day for the next six months.

"Will it make a difference? I little perhaps. But it's really addressing one of the symptoms of what we're facing." Newhouse said, "I don't think it really provides a long-term solution."

Newhouse is also wary of the cost of releasing 180 million barrels of oil out of the strategic petroleum reserve. He says depleting the reserve puts the country in a more insecure position. The strategic petroleum reserve has a current authorized storage capacity of 714 million barrels.

On President Biden's suggestion that companies who are not using idle wells or public lands to produce energy be taxed, Newhouse adds that any extra taxes are actually challenges to production and will make it harder for those companies to produce.