Mature Americans are among those most likely to be living on a fixed income. In fact, 1 in 3 of Americans over 65 years of age are economically insecure, with incomes below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level.

That means every little cost matters.

But when gasoline and energy prices rise as sharply as they have over the last year, with little end in sight, it hurts older Americans more than others. That’s because older adults, on average, have a 36% higher energy burden than the median American family, meaning their overall costs are more than a third higher than everyone else’s.

That is during ordinary times. The current energy crisis is an extraordinary time, as is an era of the highest inflation in more than 40 years.

The last year has seen gasoline prices rise 44%, with total annual household spending nearly doubling to $5,000.

Every single dollar increase on essentials like energy is the same as a tax increase. More spent on filling up our tanks or paying our electricity bills is less for everything else, like choosing how often to visit grandkids or even when to retire.

It is time to say no to intentional government efforts to lower American energy production, which have contributed to the energy price increases.

No matter what the Biden Administration says about prices dropping, gasoline prices are still nearly 60% higher than they were well before the Ukraine war aggravated the situation and sent prices near record highs.

The fundamentals behind high energy prices are unchanged: excessive regulations restricting oil & gas development; too little reliable U.S. supply to meet basic energy needs; geopolitical turmoil in Europe; and a misguided attempt by some to ban the use of oil and gas.

Those kinds of policies have led to businesses in the UK have shut their doors as costs have tripled, and ordinary citizens are facing a cold winter where prices will double to more than 10% of the average income and keep rising next year.

Some politicians in the U.S. want to follow this failed formula, and it’s started with one of the same mistakes the UK made – limiting offshore energy production. 

Offshore energy production provides the United States with 15% of the oil we use every day. If it’s not produced here, we become dependent on other countries.

Revenue from federal leasing supports national park maintenance, conservation, and recreation areas enjoyed by Americans across all 50 states. For those enjoying their retirement years on the coast, or planning to move to their retirement dream house there, leasing revenue sends hundreds of millions of dollars to states for coastal restoration and hurricane protection projects.

Banning American energy production, while begging countries like Saudi Arabia and Venezuela and negotiating with state sponsors of terrorism like Iran to pump more oil, places America’s interests last.

Our strategic petroleum reserve has been drained to its lowest level to prop up the Biden Administration’s energy policy failures, leaving us no options in a real energy emergency.

Hampering American energy oil production is just one way to make mandates to buy electric vehicles more appealing, forcing older Americans to spend $54,000 on average for a new electric vehicle, not including the thousands of dollars needed to upgrade their home’s wiring for charging.

It’s time to let the Biden Administration know we are tired of high energy prices.

Let’s tell Washington we don’t want to repeat other countries’ energy mistakes.

You can act now by commenting on a federal program to continue oil & gas development in the Gulf of Mexico.

Let your voice be heard and tell Washington to get serious about protecting older Americans from higher prices.

There is no time to waste.

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