After Trump tweets he will use Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Markey derides previous harmful Republican efforts to use emergency oil stockpile as piggybank

Washington (September 16, 2019) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Senate author of the Green New Deal, released the following statement after weekend attacks on Saudi Arabian oil infrastructure that took 5.7 million barrels-per-day of production offline. As a result, President Donald Trump tweeted that he authorized the release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), America’s number one protection against price spikes and market volatility. Over recent years, Congressional Republicans have passed legislation that will drain nearly 40 percent of the oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Senator Markey will be introducing legislation to reinstate the oil export ban.

“Efforts to upend oil markets in the Middle East underscore the need to end our reliance on oil,” said Senator Markey. “We need to end, once and for all, our dependence on oil from the Middle East and the kinds of volatility that comes with unrest in the region. Energy independence won’t be found in a Saudi Oil field, but in an American solar farm. We should immediately re-instate the four-decade ban on sending American crude overseas. And we need a Green New Deal to transition to 100 percent clean, renewable, zero-emitting energy and put an end to America’s dependence on fossil fuels that put our economy and national security at risk.

“This attack also highlights the continued importance for American consumers of our nation’s emergency oil stockpile, despite the claims of the oil industry and their backers in Congress. At a time when President Trump’s foreign policy is creating an oil risk premium for American consumers, Republicans in Congress have neutered this weapon that we have to protect our consumers by using it as a piggybank to pay for other priorities, including the Republican tax scam.  

“Evidence may show that the Iranian military bears responsibility, but true American leadership – which we sadly lack – means finding ways to de-escalate overseas crises through determined diplomacy. We cannot allow oil to be used as an excuse to embroil the United States in yet another disastrous Middle East war.”

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