Senator Charles Grassley (R) supports the United States’ ban on Russian oil, natural gas, and coal imports which President Joe Biden announced Tuesday.

President Biden remarked that this will “deal another powerful blow” to President Vladimir Putin’s “war machine,” as Russia continues its unprovoked attack on Ukraine. Last year the U.S. imported nearly 700,000 barrels per day of crude oil and refined petroleum products from Russia and this step will deprive them of billions of dollars in revenues from U.S. drivers and consumers annually, according to Biden. Senator Grassley tells KCII that with cutting off Russian oil the U.S. should return to being energy independent by reversing decisions by Biden that he believes has caused the average regular gas price to break its record of $4.11 a gallon in 2008, “I’d suggest to you at least $1 of that would come from just his energy policies of stopping the XL pipeline, not drilling in the United States on public lands, putting restrictions on fracking, not drilling off shore. And then worst yet, have your government regulators discourage the banks from loaning money to energy companies. That’s what’s responsible for most of this rise in gas prices.”

Biden has actually outpaced the previous administration for drilling on public lands in the first year of his administration, with 3,557 permits approved for oil and gas drilling compared to President Trump’s first-year total of 2,658, according to the Center for Biological Diversity. You can hear more from Grassley during Wednesday’s Halcyon House Washington Page on air and at kciiradio.com.