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In March, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm had stated that the SPR would be refilled by the end of 2024. The Biden administration is reportedly putting a hold on plans to replenish the nation’s energy stockpiles, citing cost. The Energy Department announced it would not be purchasing 3 million barrels of oil as part of an effort to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, according to Bloomberg, saying it is “keeping the taxpayer’s interest at the forefront.” The administration’s target for the buys is $79 a barrel, but its purchase of 2.8 million barrels last month averaged approximately $81 per barrel. Oil...

With the Iowa Republican Caucus in full swing, it's time for us to confront our deepest, darkest fear: Donald Trump may actually get re-elected in November. As painful as it may be to face that fact, this reality means there are things liberals may need to think about buying up and hoarding. The Babylon Bee is here to help with the following helpful list of things you should stockpile in case Trump takes the White House and kills democracy AGAIN: 1. "Gun-Free Zone" signs: To scare off the roving gangs of MAGA voters. 2. Bricks: For throwing through the windows...

Joe Biden is planning to release up to 15million barrels of oil from the US's emergency oil reserves as he tries to stem soaring gasoline prices. The oil release would be the latest portion of a deal Biden struck last spring to release 180million barrels of oil from energy companies. His administration is planning to announce the latest reserve release later this week, according to Bloomberg.

WASHINGTON—The war in Ukraine has depleted American stocks of some types of ammunition and the Pentagon has been slow to replenish its arsenal, sparking concerns among U.S. officials that American military readiness could be jeopardized by the shortage. The U.S. has during the past six months supplied Ukraine with 16 U.S. rocket launchers, known as Himars, thousands of guns, drones, missiles and other equipment. Much of that, including ammunition, has come directly from U.S. inventory, depleting stockpiles intended for unexpected threats, defense officials say. One of the most lethal weapons the Pentagon has sent are howitzers that fire high-explosive 155mm...

The Biden administration is in talks to tap to into a federal diesel reserve to address energy shortfalls, an official with knowledge of the matter confirmed to The Hill Monday. An interagency team of officials has been monitoring East Coast diesel supplies and developing policy recommendations to address them, the official said. “The team has prepared emergency declarations for President authorize release from the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve if conditions deteriorate,” they added. “We would call this a bridge to deal with short term supply shortfalls.”

As demand for COVID-19 vaccines collapses in many areas of the U.S., states are scrambling to use stockpiles of doses before they expire and have to be added to the millions that have already gone to waste. From some of the least vaccinated states, like Indiana and North Dakota, to some of the most vaccinated states, like New Jersey and Vermont, public health departments are shuffling doses around in the hopes of finding providers that can use them. State health departments told The Associated Press they have tracked millions of doses that went to waste, including ones that expired, were...

China has told families to stockpile food and other daily necessities after floods and coronavirus lockdowns sparked fears over shortages of essential goods. Beijing's commerce ministry directive on Monday stirred some concern on domestic social media that it may have been triggered by heightened tensions with Taiwan, while some said people were rushing to stock up on rice, cooking oil and salt. 'As soon as this news came out, all the old people near me went crazy panic buying in the supermarket,' wrote one user on China's Twitter-like Weibo. The government typically makes extra efforts to boost fresh vegetable and...

An emergency stockpile can greatly increase your chance of survival if SHTF. But creating a stockpile can easily drain your grocery budget if you’re not careful. Luckily, some of the best foods for stockpiling are extremely cheap, so you can buy them in quantities enough to last you several months. Here are some examples of cheap foods to stockpile: Rice – Rice is a staple food worldwide. It is also a versatile ingredient as it can be paired with various foods or cooked with various ingredients. When stored in an airtight container, rice keeps for six months. Rice is also...

The federal government is stuck with 63 million doses of hydroxychloroquine now that the US Food and Drug Administration has revoked permission for the drug to be distributed to treat coronavirus patients. The government started stockpiling donated hydroxychloroquine in late March, after President Trump touted it as "very encouraging" and "very powerful" and a "game-changer." But Monday, the FDA revoked its emergency use authorization to use the drug to treat Covid-19, saying there was "no reason to believe" the drug was effective against the virus, and that it increased the risk of side effects, including heart problems. That leaves the...

The Obama administration requested a number of funding cuts to the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) which diminished the amount of personal protective equipment and other necessary medical supplies kept in the event of a pandemic or natural or man-made disaster, show records reviewed by Fox News. The story: The Obama administration first made the requests in its 2011 budget, which reads: “CDC requests $523,533,000 for the Strategic National Stockpile in FY 2011, a decrease of $72,216,000 below the FY 2010 Omnibus.” But the document also shows that an additional $68,515,000 would later be appropriated to the SNS from the 2009...

The stockpile's 100 million supply of N95 respirator masks was never fully replenished after 2009 swine flu pandemic, experts say. The Strategic National Stockpile, America’s giant medical storage closet for a terrorist or biological crisis, once boasted more than 100 million respirator masks to protect doctors, nurses and other frontline health care workers in case of a contagion. But when the COVID-19 pandemic started a few months ago, the supply had dwindled down to just 12 million fitted masks, known as N95 respirators, and 30 million surgical masks, a supply deemed to be less than 2 percent of what the...

The national shortage of N95 respirator masks can be traced back to 2009 after the H1N1 swine flu pandemic, when the Obama administration was advised to replenish a national stockpile but did not, according to reports from Bloomberg News and the Los Angeles Times. The Trump administration is scrambling to replenish a stockpile of protective medical gear for healthcare workers and patients as the coronavirus sweeps across the nation. N95 respirator masks are one of the most needed medical supplies amid the outbreak. The George W. Bush administration published the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza plan in 2005, which called...

A Texas man who was arrested Sunday after police said they found a weapons stockpile that included an AK-47, AR-15 and bump stock in his hotel room told investigators that he was on a classified government mission, The Lowell Sun reported. Francho S. Bradley, 59, and Adrianne D. Jennings, 40, were taken into custody after Bradley called police to the hotel room to report that someone was breaking in. Police responded and found the weapons, the report said. Bradley called the police while away from the room and informed authorities that he had a firearm in his hotel room. Tewksbury...

Police in northern Germany detained one man suspected of plotting "significant" crimes against the upcoming G20 summit in Hamburg, after finding numerous weapons at his home. Hamburg police reported on Sunday that Rostock police had evidence that a 30-year-old resident in their city was plotting to commit “significant crimes” in connection with the G20 international summit in Hamburg starting on Friday. Officers then searched two apartments in Rostock, as well as a flat in Hohenfelde, and a garage in Bad Doberan on Saturday.

When Greg Burel tells people he's in charge of some secret government warehouses, he often gets asked if they're like the one at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark, where the Ark of the Covenant gets packed away in a crate and hidden forever. "Well, no, not really," says Burel, director of a program called the Strategic National Stockpile at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Thousands of lives might someday depend on this stockpile, which holds all kinds of medical supplies that the officials would need in the wake of a terrorist attack with a chemical,...

Why in the world has JP Morgan accumulated more than 55 million ounces of physical silver? Since early 2012, JP Morgan’s stockpile has grown from less than 5 million ounces of physical silver to more than 55 million ounces of physical silver. Clearly, someone over at JP Morgan is convinced that physical silver is a great investment. But in recent times, the price of silver has actually fallen quite a bit. As I write this, it is sitting at the ridiculously low price of $15.66 an ounce. So up to this point, JP Morgan’s investment in silver has definitely not...

Defense: The administration proudly reveals a state secret to our enemies before a U.N. conference on nuclear nonproliferation. It wants to lead by example on disarmament, but Iran and North Korea aren't following. Not since the 1928 Kellogg-Briand Pact that sought to outlaw war as an instrument of national policy has there been such a stunning display of dangerous naivete. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton disclosed U.S. nuclear secrets to the U.N. conference while proudly proclaiming it showed America is sending "a clear, unmistakable signal" that this nation is committed to nuclear disarmament. Kellogg-Briand laid the groundwork for Munich in...

The White House on Monday defended the Obama administration’s move to ban certain bullets used in a wildly popular rifle, a proposal that has stirred opposition from Second Amendment advocates and a prominent member of Congress. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is considering a ban on M855 ball ammunition, which pro-gun groups have said is among the most popular cartridge used for the AR-15 rifle and is frequently used for sporting purposes like hunting, because of its so-called “armor-piercing” capabilities. “It would be fair to say, as we are looking at additional ways to protect our brave...

THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS Japan plans to turn over to the United States more than 700 pounds of weapons grade plutonium and a supply of highly-enriched uranium, a victory for President Barack Obama's efforts to secure nuclear materials around the world. Despite its international pledge not to possess excess stock of plutonium, Japan has large amounts of the weapons-grade material. The amount to be returned to the U.S. this time is a fraction of Japan's overall stockpile. Even though the majority of Japan's public favor nuclear phase-out, the government recently introduced a draft long-term energy policy proposing maintaining nuclear power as...