All Americans are suffering at the gas pump. This is not new information for our readers. Prices had been slowly rising during the pandemic, but when Russia invaded Ukraine in February, prices skyrocketed. This month, gas was the most expensive in US history, breaking the record from 2008. High energy prices coupled with an unprecedented inflation rate have hit America’s diverse communities particularly hard. What can be done to provide these working families with some relief?

The solution is simple. We need our elected officials in Washington, D.C. to enact policies that encourage domestic production of oil and natural gas. Last fall, Jerry Silva, former Senior Advisor at the US Department of Energy and former Senior Advisor for Southern California Edison, wrote about how a diverse and affordable energy mix here at home can help solve America’s energy crisis.

Increased American energy production is necessary to free our country from such heavy reliance on foreign produced energy. Recently, Morning Consult released poll data highlighting that 9 out of 10 Americans support this policy shift. Ensuring energy security is critical to those communities that have been affected by high energy prices due to global uncertainty.