Washington, D.C. — Today, Congresswoman Annie Kuster (NH-02), a prominent Energy and Commerce Committee Member, voted against legislation restricting our nation’s best tools to respond to energy crises. Republicans in Congress put forward misguided legislation that would deliver record profits for Big Oil companies by prohibiting the Department of Energy (DOE) from releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) until it expands oil and gas drilling on federal lands by the same percentage that it releases oil from the SPR. 

“We should be expanding our tools to promote American energy independence, not weakening them,” said Kuster. “This legislation is nothing more than a game of smoke and mirrors, a backroom effort to hide the true cause of volatile energy prices and line the pockets of Big Oil companies. The fossil fuel industry is already sitting on thousands of unused oil and gas leases, yet, the Republican majority continues to give them government handouts rather than take the necessary steps to lower energy costs for American households. I will continue pushing for an all-of-the-above energy portfolio and standing up to corporate greed to protect New Hampshire families.”

Kuster has been an outspoken voice in Congress urging further action to lower energy prices and insulate American consumers from the whims of foreign powers. Releasing oil from the SPR in response to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine — which Rep. Kuster supported — helped cut gas prices by $1.69 per gallon since their peak. The Strategic Production Response Act would have stopped that emergency release at the expense of American families. 

###