Williamsville, N.Y. (WBEN) - Standing outside a local Crosby's gas station on Wehrle Drive Monday morning, Rep. Chris Jacobs and New York State Republican Party Chairman Nick Langworthy turned up the partisan heat on the Biden administration, blaming its energy policies for the steep increases in gasoline prices recently.
"This did not have to happen," said Jacobs. "This is not a result of Vladimir Putin or what's going on in Ukraine, this is a direct result of Joe Biden's policies."
Jacobs points to the decision by the Biden administration to stop the Keystone Pipeline and blocking leases on new land for oil exploration as key reasons for the spike in gas prices.
Both Jacobs and Langworthy are calling for actions that would bring prices down for Americans and allow the restoration of American energy independence.
"The Biden administration has the ability today, at this very moment, to relieve our pain at the pump," exclaimed Langworthy. "We are now being forced to get our oil from OPEC, which includes countries like Venezuela and Iran, that hate us."
Jacobs and both claim restoring the Keystone Pipeline would supply enough oil to replace the amount of oil the U.S. was relying on Russia for.
Langworthy says the notion that the gasoline crisis is a direct result of the war in Ukraine is false.
"Gas prices started rising long before Putin assembled a single troop on the Ukraine border."
