April Ryan brings race into question on gas prices with Sec. Granholm
The White House correspondent asked what the Biden administration is doing to stop price gouging in minority areas.
White House Correspondent April Ryan claimed Monday that minority communities in the U.S. are paying significantly more at the gas pump than White Americans in a pointed question to Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm.
During Monday's White House Press briefing, Ryan claimed that some communities in America saw gas prices dip after the Biden administration released a portion of the country's strategic oil reserve, while others did not. She said that price gouging had caused the issue.
"Could you explain why there was such a difference in communities with gas prices in one community versus another?" Ryan asked.
Granholm, responding to the reporter's observation about gas struggles, said there were "definitely" differences regarding local infrastructure across different portions of the U.S.
White House correspondent April Ryan speaks with U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm at the White House on January 23, 2022. (White House )
"There are some who may be at the very end of a [gas] line or may not even have a line. They may get it trucked in. It takes longer and it's more expensive. If you are not near a refinery, that's another reason why the transportation costs are tacked on at the pump," she said.
Ryan then pressed Granholm and claimed that urban communities were seeing much higher prices on gas versus predominantly White neighborhoods.
"There was still a big pinch in urban areas with these gas prices when the outlying communities, particularly majority White communities, were seeing the drop to $3 and many of these urban areas were seeing $4 and $5 gas prices. Could you speak to that?" she asked.
Granholm noted that gas stations are often owned by individuals and said that state attorney generals and law enforcement should go after those taking advantage of local communities.
GAS PRICES COULD RISE BACK TO $4 PER GALLON AS EARLY AS MAY 2023, GASBUDDY SAYS
US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm speaks during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, on November 23, 2021. ((Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP) (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images))
"Price gouging is illegal. You cannot jack up prices to take advantage of a crisis in that way," she added.
Democrats have repeatedly claimed that price gouging is mainly responsible for sky-high gas prices over the last year.
In October, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, D., said he would support a new windfall tax on oil companies to punish "oil company extortion" in a video message posted by his office.
"Gas prices are up while oil companies rake in RECORD profits," Newsom tweeted at the time. "It. Does. Not. Add. Up. We cannot continue to allow greedy oil companies to rip us off at the pump."
A sign with gasoline prices is seen at the Giant grocery store in Bloomsburg. (Paul Weaver/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
While Newsom and other Democratic lawmakers have repeatedly blamed oil companies for profiteering, some economists and oil market experts said the argument is a red herring. Instead, they claim that bad state and local policies are at fault.
Meanwhile, Granholm said Monday that President Biden would veto a bill being pushed by House Republicans limiting his ability to draw from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).
The Strategic Production Response Act calls for increasing domestic oil and gas production on federal lands to offset any future drawdowns from the reserve, which reached its lowest levels since 1983 last month.
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FOX Business' Paul Best contributed to this report.
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