Grassley Shares His Solution To Raising Gas Prices After New Ban

Earlier today, President Joe Biden announced a ban on Russian oil over the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Today the United States is targeting the main artery of Russia’s economy. We are banning all imports of Russian oil and gas and energy

Congress has been pressuring the President to do this for the last week. According to NPR, the president of Ukraine held a call over the weekend where he also urged lawmakers to sanction Russian oil.

Senator Chuck Grassley told NAFB that farm margins are narrowing as the conflict continues.

“We’re moving forward with this ban, understanding that many of our European allies and partners may not be in a position to join us, but there’ll be costs as well here in the United States.”

Even before the sanctions, prices of fuel, fertilizer, and chemicals were reaching record highs.

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“Even if there’s a profit, it’s going to be a lot less of a profit, and I just read in the Iowa Farm Bureau Spokesman about how income for farmers is  going to be down this year.”

He argued that if the U.S. can ramp up production, there won’t be a need to lift the ban on Venezuela.

As talk of banning Russian oil arose, says an article in the New York Times, Venezuela, a Russian ally whose oil is already under American sanctions, could be a possible replacement for the deficit.

However, the country’s leader, Nicolas Maduro, is accused of crimes against humanity. Grassley said the solution is turning to renewable fuels such as ethanol.

“President Biden ought to look to the Midwest and think about how ethanol and biodiesel can fill these voids. These producers in the Midwest can make up the difference in production that we need.”

He points out that E15 was 30 to 40 cents cheaper per gallon than e10 last week and that ethanol was $1.20 cheaper than base gasoline.