President Trump on Monday invoked wartime authority under the Defense Production Act (DPA) to try to push for more oil, gas and coal.
The DPA gives the president the authority to increase the production of certain items to advance national security.
Trump this week issued five memos applying it to oil, coal, natural gas infrastructure and exports, electric grid equipment and “large-scale energy and energy-related infrastructure.”
The move comes as the war in Iran has created an oil supply crunch. About a fifth of the world’s oil typically flows through the Strait of Hormuz, off Iran’s coast. Tehran has taken advantage of this chokepoint and has effectively halted the flow of this oil.
Oil is a globally traded commodity, so this has sent prices skyrocketing around the world.
