White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday rejected calls from oil companies and Republicans to increase oil drilling on U.S. lands amid record-high gas prices.
Jean-Pierre was asked about why the Biden administration is pressuring oil companies to increase productivity at refineries rather than carrying out new drilling projects. Right after he took office in January 2021, President Joe Biden signed a flurry of executive orders including suspending new drilling leases on federal lands, ending the Keystone XL pipeline project, and killing federal fossil fuel subsidies.
