Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is calling out President Joe Biden for using the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in a last-ditch effort to curb gas prices before the midterm elections in November.

“Releasing barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve- that is not an energy policy. That is a political move trying to CYA so people don’t blame you as much, although they do blame him because they’re smart, but that’s all that is,” DeSantis said during a Thursday press conference.

“That is not a solution. And honestly, you have, he’s drawing that down if we did have something else happen, we may need to actually use that for other things and we may not have the capacity at that point. So, very, very reckless to be doing that, it has not made a dent in the price at all,” he continued.

Releasing barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves is a political stunt that has not made a dent on gas prices. We need real energy policy solutions from the Biden Administration so Americans can stop paying $5 for a gallon of gas. pic.twitter.com/XsWSyvVkQ2

— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) June 16, 2022

The Biden Administration announced Tuesday that it would be selling an unprecedented 45 million barrels from the reserve, Reuters reported, adding that the White House launched a plan in March to release 1 million barrels daily for six months to combat prices.

Clearly, the effort has not given relief drivers at the gas pump. Prices continue to hit record highs, with five dollars being the average price per gallon as of Thursday, according to AAA.

Other Republican politicians have also been critical of the use of the SPR, including numerous congressmen.

“The American people deserve to know more about DOE’s plan to backfill the SPR. The SPR is intended for emergency supply chain disruptions — not as a stop gap to make up for the Biden administration’s war on domestic energy,” House Oversight Committee Republicans wrote in a letter addressed to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on May 26, Fox Business reported.

The Republicans are correct in their concern, as the issue can only really be solved by drilling more oil domestically or putting increased pressure on foreign suppliers to import higher amounts. If there is a natural disaster or another incident that requires the reserve to be used, it will now be depleted to an extent, as Biden desperately needed a Band-Aid solution.

Although DeSantis’s direct call-out of Biden was seen by some as an indicator that he wants to run against the president in 2024 (which I just noted earlier on Thursday in a VIP piece), every GOP governor in the United States should be critical of the president’s energy policies.

He's running. https://t.co/Z9Eiroki0b

— Rob Pyers (@rpyers) June 16, 2022

Yes, DeSantis could have aspirations of higher office, except he is right to care about the federal energy policies–regardless of what he decides to do in 2024. Floridians, just like all other Americans, are paying more for gas right now. Conservative leaders have a responsibility to hold the line against the Biden agenda, and he appears to understand that well.