Biden officials warn against hoarding gasoline amid shortages

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Wednesday warned against “hoarding” gasoline amid increasing shortages, echoing similar comments from Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on Tuesday. 

“This is a time to be sensible and to be safe,” Buttigieg said during a White House press briefing. “Of course we understand the concern in areas where people are encountering temporary supply disruptions, but hoarding does not make things better.”

He also echoed a tweet from the Consumer Product Safety Commission warning people against putting gasoline into plastic bags, saying, “Under no circumstances should gasoline ever be put into anything but a vehicle directly or an approved container.”

As of Wednesday morning, 28 percent of gas stations in North Carolina, nearly 18 percent of gas stations in Georgia and 16 percent of stations in South Carolina were reporting outages, according to GasBuddy.

In a Tuesday press briefing, Granholm made comments similar to those made by Buttigieg, saying “things will be back to normal soon, [and] we’re asking people not to hoard.”

The shortages come as many people sought to purchase gas amid the news over the weekend that the Colonial Pipeline shut down. The pipeline says it provides 45 percent of the fuel consumed by the East Coast, and shut down following a ransomware attack.