Biden team looks for ways to deal with rising energy prices

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden’s administration travels around the country and abroad to try to address concerns over rising energy prices slowing the country’s recovery from pandemic-induced recession .

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Wednesday called on the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to speed up restoring the world’s oil supply to pre-pandemic levels, and the White House asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the domestic gasoline market for any anti-competitive behavior that could drive up prices.

The joint actions come as the administration becomes increasingly sensitive to rising prices throughout the economy as it faces the political and political pressure of inflation.

“Rising gasoline costs, if left unchecked, could harm the ongoing global recovery,” Sullivan said in a statement. He said the administration was pressuring OPEC and producers allied with the cartel to more quickly reverse production cuts put in place at the start of the pandemic.

Biden National Economic Council Director Brian Deese has asked FTC Chief Lina Khan to “monitor the US gasoline market and tackle any illegal behavior that could contribute to the price increase. for consumers at the pump “. The FTC is an independent agency and can receive advice, but not direction, from the White House.

Wednesday’s report from the Ministry of Labor showed that consumer prices jumped 0.5% from June to July, down from the previous monthly increase of 0.9%. They were up 5.4% from the previous year, erasing much of the benefits for workers with higher wages.

Gasoline prices are up about $ 1 from a year ago, as Americans hit peak summer driving season and get back on the roads after pandemic closures. The White House says there is no cause for concern, saying the country is “not at a historically high point in gas prices” and that prices are roughly where they were at. 2018.

Rising prices, both at the pump and in other consumer goods, have become a powerful talking point among critics of Biden’s GOP. The White House has insisted that inflation will subside as the economy recovers from the double shock of the pandemic and the country’s ongoing recovery from virus-induced lockdowns.