Oil prices and President Joe Biden’s continued draining of the
Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) have dominated the headlines over the
past few weeks, but analysts say a more impactful and serious crisis on
the energy front looms: a diesel fuel shortage.
Diesel doesn’t get as much of the limelight as oil and gas, but it
should because diesel fuel is the industrial lifeblood of the United
States, and the price of diesel alone probably has a more significant
impact on inflation and the prices you’re paying at the grocery store
over any other factor. Without ample amounts of diesel, semi-trucks
don’t move, farms are shut down, and critical manufacturing sectors are
crippled.
As Bloomberg
noted this week, “The US has just 25 days of diesel supply, the lowest
since 2008, according to the Energy Information Administration. At the
same time, the four-week rolling average of distillates supplied, a
proxy for demand, rose to its highest seasonal level since 2007.”
The Biden administration has remained strangely silent, probably
hoping that the dismal news doesn’t hit the mainstream because it’s a
total political timebomb waiting to go off, especially as the midterm
elections are so close.
Bloomberg noted:
The diesel crunch comes just weeks ahead of the midterm
elections and has the potential to drive up prices for consumers who
already view inflation and the economy as a top voting issue. Retail
prices have been steadily climbing for more than two weeks. At $5.324 a
gallon, they’re 50% higher than this time last year, according to AAA
data.
Notably, National Economic Council Director Brian Deese recently
commented on the emerging crisis. Deese said diesel inventories are
“unacceptably low” and added that “all options are on the table,”
whatever that means.
Aside from that remark, the White House has done little to nothing
about the issue — an issue that could further cripple confidence in the
ability of Democrats to lead America through tough times, as they’ve
already proven on many occasions over the past two years.
Diesel has also been described as the nation’s “inflation canary,”
given that it’s so critically important for everything we need to
survive. The bottom line is that without ample supplies and record-high
prices for what’s left, Americans will get financially hammered over the
winter and into 2023.
Folks, it’s probably going to get really bad out there. The scary
part is that the Biden administration doesn’t seem to give a rip.
How bad is this situation truly? Let’s put the pieces together.
We have a historically low supply of diesel fuel, which powers
everything that allows us to eat, drink, and live our daily lives.
Because of the diminished supply under Biden, we have surging prices,
making the cost of hauling goods, farming, and everything else that
requires diesel fuel (pretty much everything) higher than ever before,
which will cause prices of everything we use and need to increase in the
coming months significantly.
Add to that a potentially hard, cold winter for many parts of the
country, when heating oil demand will skyrocket, causing prices to soar
once again over competition for what’s left in the tank.
I’d say that it’s unbelievable that the Biden administration has let
the problem get so bad as to be a potentially crippling crisis for
America in the coming months, but it’s not. In fact, it’s quite
believable, and it lines up with other jaw-droppingly stupid decisions
made by the current White House that many now believe are so bad that
they are likely intentional, for whatever sinister reasons.
So, in other words, if you thought prices at the pump, the grocery
store, and everything else that affects our lives are high now, you
ain’t seen nothing yet, Jack.
