President Joe Biden’s Department of Energy (DOE) marked the first day of “pride month” by calling for pride “this month,” “next month” and “always” as gas prices continue to skyrocket, reaching another record high on Wednesday.
“Pride. This month. Next month. Always,” the Energy Department said in a post to social media, making it clear that the DOE “proudly” celebrates pride month. Accompanying the brief statement is an image of the “Progress Pride Flag,” widely embraced by other federal agencies this year as well. The flag includes the traditional colors of the rainbow but adds light pink, baby blue and white for the transgender community as well as black and brown for minority communities:
The social media post was not immediately well-received.
“So comforting to know that you’ve invested your time and effort into this nonsense when the Secretary of Energy doesn’t even know how much oil the US consumes daily and Americans are paying the highest prices ever for fuel,” one user wrote.
A customer pumps gas into her car at a gas station on May 18, 2022, in Petaluma, California. Gas prices in California have surpassed $6.00 per gallon for the first time ever. (Justin Sullivan/Getty)
“Now if only we could celebrate any of you doing your job well,” another added.
The tweet coincides with another day of record-breaking gas prices, which jumped five cents overnight, reaching $4.671 for regular gas. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, however, has remained in denial, telling Americans that they can “thank the activity of Vladimir Putin for invading Ukraine” — a remark Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) dismissed as “utter nonsense” during a hearing last month.
“It is not administration policies that have affected supply and demand,” she claimed, causing Hawley to set the record straight.
“And here’s what your president did when he first came to office,” Hawley said:
He immediately reentered the Paris Climate Accord. He canceled the Keystone Pipeline. He halted leasing programs in ANWR. He issued a 60-day halt on all new oil and gas leases and drilling permits on federal lands and waters. That’s nationwide. That accounts, by the way, for 25 percent of U.S. oil production.
He directed federal agencies to eliminate all supports for fossil fuels. He imposed new regulations on oil and gas and methane emissions. Those were all just in the first few days.
“Are you telling me that had no effect on our energy supply?” he asked, prompting Granholm’s denial yet again.
WATCH:
Josh Hawley / Twitter
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