past 11 days in a row. american families forced to spend an average of $5,000 a year on gas compared to $2800 a year ago. interior secretary deb holland refusing to concede it is too big a burden to bear. americans are still recovering from this terrible pandemic and there are a lot of other world events that are making things difficult for all of us. so it sounds like you are unwilling to say that gas prices are too high. we re doing all we can, senator. dana: grady trimble is following the story from chicago. good morning. good morning. gas prices are expected to keep rising this summer so when interior secretary deb holland wouldn t acknowledge in that hearing that gas prices right now are too high, it certainly raised eyebrows. we re doing all we can, senator, production on federal lands is up. it s a 45% increase from 2020. that s new drilling. that s up. but the production is also up. it s at an all-time high. president biden is allowing drilling on federa
past 11 days in a row. american families forced to spend an average of $5,000 a year on gas compared to $2800 a year ago. interior secretary deb holland refusing to concede it is too big a burden to bear. americans are still recovering from this terrible pandemic and there are a lot of other world events that are making things difficult for all of us. so it sounds like you are unwilling to say that gas prices are too high. we re doing all we can, senator. dana: grady trimble is following the story from chicago. good morning. good morning. gas prices are expected to keep rising this summer so when interior secretary deb holland wouldn t acknowledge in that hearing that gas prices right now are too high, it certainly raised eyebrows. we re doing all we can, senator, production on federal lands is up. it s a 45% increase from 2020.
control, though, we re producing less. in 2011, production on federal lands actually fell by 275,000 barrels a day. now, while the white house argues supply doesn t matter that much, other democrats seem to think it does, because they keep encouraging other nations to produce more and praise them when they do. as senator schumer did when the saudis agreed to increase production in case sanctions on iran disrupts supplies. it is the best news on a very bad front, that is, of rising gasoline prices that we ve had in a very long time. reporter: and as recently as last year, president obama himself was urging increases in supply, but not in the u.s. he urged brazil to produce more, promising the u.s. would be a good customer. brazil wants to be a major supplier of new stable sources of energy, and i ve told her that the united states wants to be a major customer, which would be a win/win for both our countries. reporter: and some push
down pressure on prices. one reason that the president and the aides played down the role of supply, closer look at the administration s claim indicate the president is actually producing the supply of energy from the federal lands, not increasing it. the bush administration for instance increase permits for drilling 116%. under president obama permits have fallen 26%. three-quarters of the production has been on private land while areas under the president s control are now producing less. in fact, in 2011, production on federal lands actually declined by 275,000 barrels a day. that doesn t upset some of the president s congressional allies because they don t want more drilling. now the republican mantra is drill baby drill. this may sound good but it s based on complete fiction. reporter: other democrats think supply does matter because they re encouraging other nations to produce more and praise them when they do. as senator schumer did when