Trone, Pallone Introduce Legislation to Lower Gas Prices

Press Release

Congressman David Trone, alongside House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone and other Members of Congress, introduced the Buy Low and Sell High Act, new legislation that creates an Economic Petroleum Reserve designed to help continue the current trend of falling gasoline prices and save money for American taxpayers by empowering the Department of Energy (DOE) to buy oil when prices are low and sell oil when prices are high.

"For months, Americans have suffered from Putin's unprovoked war in Ukraine. We need to establish long-term strategies to keep these conflicts away from our local economies and protect Americans' wallets," said Congressman Trone. "This legislation will do just that by providing the Executive Branch with the authority to think smarter about our energy sources and make our country more resilient against market manipulation by other countries."

After the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) oil embargo of 1973 -- 1974, Congress created the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to insulate Americans from global oil supply disruptions. While the Administration has successfully used the SPR to lower gas prices -- which have fallen more than $1.30 per gallon since June -- Trone believes new authorities are needed to ensure that OPEC and Russia cannot continue to manipulate global oil prices to harm the American economy and its consumers.

The Buy Low and Sell High Act gives the President the ability to better protect American consumers by granting the DOE the ability to sell a 350-million barrel subset, called the Economic Petroleum Reserve, from the SPR when prices are high, ensuring that Americans get immediate price relief instead of waiting months or years.

In addition to creating this cost-saving strategy, this bill also:

Establishes strategic gasoline and diesel reserves in every region of the United States, ensuring product can be deployed immediately during emergencies;
Prohibits barrels stored within the SPR from being exported or sold to entities owned, controlled, or influenced by China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, or any other country under U.S. sanctions;
Lowers gasoline prices and improves our energy security by funding improvements at oil refineries located in allied countries;
Reduces our reliance on foreign oil and empowers states to lead the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) by investing profits from oil sales in state EV infrastructure programs; and,
Ensures that the federal government leads by example and sets targets for acquiring a fully zero-emission federal vehicle fleet.

Other original cosponsors of the bill include Reps. Bobby Rush (D-IL), Angie Craig (D-MN), Jason Crow (D-CO), Josh Harder (D-CA), Annie Kuster (D-NH), Tom O'Halleran (D-AZ), and Abigail Spanberger (D-VA).

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