Peach Tree Times

Gas prices have been on the rise in Georgia and across the nation for months, and President Joe Biden has persisted in placing the blame on oil companies for price gouging. 

But the administration has failed to be transparent on the matter, becoming the latest area of concern for the Functional Government Initiative (FGI). On June 6, the nonprofit organization announced that it has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) investigation into the oil and gas industry.

In a recent press release, the FGI announced litigation against the FTC. The lawsuit was filed on the grounds that the FTC violated transparency obligations surrounding the announcement of a possible price gouging investigation into the oil and gas industry.

"Prices at the pump are at their highest level ever, even before the summer driving season, and the expectation is that there’s no end in sight," FGI spokesperson Peter McGinnis said in the release. "The government has continued to point fingers while dismissing any hint that its policies may have contributed to the crisis. If the government really is using its resources to investigate and punish energy producers rather than incentivize them to ease Americans’ pain at the pump, the public deserves to know."

In November 2021, with gas prices and inflation already well on the rise, Biden asked the FTC to investigate possible illegal profiteering or price gouging by the oil and gas firms, FGI said. This was not the first instance the administration responded to crises by calling on the FTC to conduct investigations into related private sector entities.

Among the first of the president's investigations was the meat packing industry, followed by oil and gas, and most recently the baby formula industry amid the infant food shortage crisis. FGI says that FTC investigations have been the administration’s go-to play in these situations.

In seeking to discover the conversations and facts regarding the probe, FGI began looking into the oil and gas FTC investigation in early January of this year. In March, however, their request for documents was denied. The FTC asserted that every record was part of a deliberative and pre-decisional process. But even after FGI’s successful appeal of this decision, the FTC has continued to deny FGI access to these records since then.

The FGI is a nonpartisan organization that works to demand transparency and integrity from government agencies and elected officials. The group has repeatedly expressed concerns over the federal government’s perplexing responses and actions taken attempting to reduce gas prices.

As of June 21, the average price for gas in Georgia is $4.47 per gallon, data from the American Automobile Association said. At this time last year, it was $2.89.