Why Is Congress Nuking Northeast Gasoline Reserve As Part Of Bill To Avert Shutdown? | ZeroHedge, March 3, 2024 Congressional negotiators revealed a bill which will fund key parts of the government through the rest of the fiscal year which began in October. The 1,050-page legislation sets a discretionary spending level of $1.66 trillion for FY24, which comes just days after lawmakers passed the fourth stopgap measure since Oct. 1 to keep the government funded a bit longer. According to Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer's office, the bill "maintains the aggressive investments Democrats secured for American families, American workers, and America’s national defense." House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement that "House Republicans secured key conservative policy victories, rejected left-wing proposals, and imposed sharp cuts to agencies and programs critical to the President Biden’s agenda." But what neither of them mention is that the bill also nukes the entire Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve - which, at roughly 1 million barrels, is too small to matter on a national scale - but which could serve as a critical cache of energy in the event of another major disaster. Then, the bill makes it even harder to establish regional reserves in the future - requiring several new layers of red tape. excerpt from the bill: (d)(1) The Secretary of Energy may not establish any new regional petroleum product reserve unless funding for the proposed regional petroleum product reserve is explicitly requested in advance in an annual budget submitted by the President pursuant to section 11-05 of title 31, United States Code, and approved by the Congress in an appropriations Act. (2) The budget request or notification shall include-- (A) the justification for then new reserve; (B) a cost estimate [...] including funding sources; (C) a detailed plan for the operation of the reserve, including the conditions upon which the products may be released; Is the government trying to cause another disaster? This supply is so small but crucial for its intended purpose that we're in 'just why?' territory. related threads: U.S. planning to sell off entire emergency gasoline reserves! (in Current Events, Sept 7, 2023) Biden just sold the National Helium Reserve… (post by JET3534 , Feb 2, 2024)
