If Washington wants lower gas prices, it should get out of the way

By Gerard Scimeca
Real Clear Wire

At a time when Americans are once again being pinched at the gas pump, Washington is making a costly mistake.

Gas prices are rising sharply as global oil markets react to the escalating conflict with Iran. Crude prices have surged past $100 per barrel, and analysts warn that disruptions to key shipping routes could push prices even higher. With gas prices affecting nearly every sector of our economy, this is bad news for consumers already stretched to the limit by inflation.

There is little the U.S. can do to control instability in the Middle East. But Washington can do a great deal to avoid making the situation worse.

In Alaska, one of our nation's most energy-rich regions, the Small Business Administration (SBA) is foolishly disrupting companies that support oil and gas production. Recent actions targeting Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs) are interfering with contracts essential to energy development in the region.

It began when the SBA launched sweeping audits after a Justice Department investigation revealed a half-billion-dollar bribery scheme in the 8(a) program, which received $26.2 billion in federal contracts in 2024. The Pentagon likewise initiated a review of 8(a) contracts in the wake of President Trump’s call to end all federal diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) programs, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth calling tribal contracts, “the oldest DEI program in the federal government.”

Neither of these circumstances justifies constraining American energy supply when consumers need relief most. The contracts are based upon treaties with sovereign tribal nations, making them political, not racial, and certainly not DEI. As much as we applaud investigating and rooting out fraud and waste, if every federal program guilty of waste were put on hiatus as 8(a) is now, the entire Capitol would come to a screeching halt.

The simple solution is to audit contractors individually as the program continues to produce benefits for our economy and the local tribes, and reserve punishment for the guilty. 

Alaska Native Corporations play a central role in the infrastructure that allows energy production to happen in some of the most remote and challenging environments in the world. ANCs often own land that contains much of our nation’s oil and gas. For example, the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, an ANC, owns the largest hydrocarbon province in North America on Alaska’s North Slope. If you pause or break contracts with ANCs, you risk losing access to these vital resources. 

When regulators suspend contracts or create uncertainty around these partnerships, the effects are immediate. Work is delayed. Investments are paused. Output is constrained.

When domestic supply tightens, prices rise. Americans are feeling that in real time. 

The global oil market is highly sensitive to disruption. Roughly a fifth of the world’s oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz, a region now directly affected by tensions with Iran. When supply from that region is threatened, prices jump for American consumers. 

At this moment the U.S. should be doing everything it can to maximize reliable domestic production. Alaska is one of the few places where that can happen at scale. Yet instead of clearing the path, Washington is putting up new barriers.

This is regulatory overreach that ignores real-world consequences. Alaska Native Corporations are not speculative startups or untested contractors. They are long-established partners in America's energy infrastructure, with decades of experience operating in environments where few others can.

Interfering with these federal contracts creates instability across the entire energy supply chain, and instability in energy markets has a predictable outcome. Consumers pay more.

Higher gas prices are not an abstract policy concern. They function like a tax on everyday life. They hit working families hardest, especially those who have no choice but to drive long distances for work, school, or access basic needs. They raise the cost of transporting goods, which feeds directly into higher prices at the store.

Every unnecessary regulatory delay adds pressure to a system that is already suffering under heavy strain.

The U.S. can’t insulate itself completely from global energy shocks. But it can make itself more resilient. That starts with ensuring that domestic production is not being undermined by counterproductive policy decisions.

Right now, Washington is doing exactly that.

If the goal is to ease the burden on consumers, the path forward is clear. Stop interfering with the partnerships that make American energy production possible. Allow experienced operators to do their jobs and remove uncertainty from the system.

The alternative is what we are seeing today: constrained supply, rising prices, and American families left to absorb the cost.Washington cannot control the war in the Middle East. But it can control whether its own policies are driving prices even higher.

Gerard Scimeca is chairman, CASE, Consumer Action for a Strong Economy.