Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna’s proposed gas export ban will backfire, warn people familiar with natural gas policy. [some emphasis, links added]
“As the Trump administration continues to betray Americans and extend the war with Iran, Congress needs to step in and put the interests of our hard-working constituents first,” Khanna stated in a press release last April.
The Gasoline Export Ban Act of 2026 would freeze gas exports if the average price of gas in the U.S. is above $3.12 per gallon for 7 days, and lift the ban if it’s below that mark for 7 days.
Khanna’s office did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
“My proposals will help lower gas prices by taking on corporate profiteering. They put working and middle-class Americans first,” Khanna previously posted on X.
The average price of gas in the U.S. is $4.29 per gallon as of June 2, Center for Strategic & International Studies fellow Clayton Seigle wrote June 5. The average before the Iran War was $2.94.
Seigle warned that price-control policies would worsen the situation by causing Gulf Coast refineries to deprioritize gasoline production in favor of diesel, stressing an already strained global supply chain.
“Rep Khanna’s legislation will do absolutely nothing to affect fuel prices. It’s a gimmick that plays on people’s legitimate frustrations with energy costs while most likely not passing Congress nor having any effect on the international oil markets, which are a primary driver of fuel prices,” writer and former trucker Gord Magill told the DCNF.
“I would advise Rep Khanna and his friends in the Democratic Party who are so worried about consumer energy costs to reverse course on their climate alarmist [priorities] and pass legislation that will help truckers, farmers, and others who use diesel engines,” Magill said.
Former President Joe Biden froze liquefied natural gas exports to non-free-trade-agreement countries in January 2024, which critics argued stalled investment, undermined America’s national security, and didn’t even help reduce carbon emissions.
President Donald Trump reversed the ban on his first day in office.
Magill cited Rep. Mike Collins’ and Sen. Cynthia Lummis’ Diesel Liberation Act as an example of legislation that’d help diesel users.
“[Diesel Liberation Act] would nullify the extremely costly DEF fluid emissions control mandates which have flummoxed truckers and farmers for two decades now,” Magill said.
“The loss to the costs associated with these systems, especially because of their fragile nature and how often they break down, [is] nearly incalculable, though some estimates put it at over $13 billion a year in direct losses to those who feed us and keep our economy rolling.
“I would also advise Rep Khanna and his colleagues [sic] to examine why so many upgrading facilities and refiners in America have gone out of business over the past decade or so, and consider the loss of that capacity in light of our energy cost crisis,” Magill said.
The American Petroleum Institute (API), America’s largest trade association for the natural gas and oil industry, also opposes Khanna’s bill.
“We would oppose any export restrictions, period. Because … it doesn’t meet the measure of smart and wise energy policy. Every energy policy that we should be pursuing should be about producing, how do we produce more?” API president Mike Sommers said during an interaction with a journalist on Monday. “How do we move more? How do we refine more? And export policies, export restrictions, do the opposite of all of those things.”
Read more at Daily Caller
The price of gasoline here in Aurora, CO, today was about $3.50 per gallon, down over $1 in just over a month. And there’s no reason to expect it to drop further. But funny how the media, who were clamoring about the high cost of gasoline only a month ago are pretty much mum on these drops. Politics? Nah, the media don’t fully support the Democrats and have severe TDS, right?