CNN correspondent says Biden can't do much about gas prices: 'Options are looking pretty bleak'

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CNN business correspondent says there's not much Biden can do about high gas prices

Rahel Solomon said Monday that there wasn't much President Biden could do about gas prices, adding that his 'options were looking pretty bleak.'

CNN business correspondent Rahel Solomon said Monday that there was very little President Biden could do about gas prices, adding that the options were "looking pretty bleak."

Host John Berman asked Solomon if there was "anything" Biden could do to lower prices. The CNN business correspondent said that "pain is widespread" and that it was "understandable" why the American people would want the president to do something to address the increased gas prices. 

"There is very little any sitting U.S. president can do in the short term to try to lower prices," Solomon said. 

Solomon said Biden has already done what he could to address the high prices in the short term, noting the release of one million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. 

CNN business correspondent Rahel Solomon said Monday there was very little Biden could do to address soaring gas prices. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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She also added that Biden "appealed unsuccessfully to Saudi Arabia" in an effort to up the global supply. "This is a global phenomenon that we're all dealing with," she said. 

"And then the bulk of prices of course is crude and demand is such an important part of that. There’s not much the president can do about demand," she continued. 

Berman pressed further on any "solutions" to the problem and said people would "blame the president even though this is global."

CNN business correspondent Rahel Solomon said it was "understandable" that the American people would want the president to do something about gas prices. (Reuters/Mike Blake)

Solomon said she asked Mark Finley, an energy and global oil fellow at Rice University, about any solutions to the skyrocketing gas prices. She said that he suggested petitioning oil investors and shareholders to "to prioritize investing and not just shareholder dividends," but that it was going to be a tough sell. 

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Rahel Solomon said Monday that Biden has exhausted his short-term  solutions for high gas prices, including tapping into the petroleum reserve. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

"The unfortunate reality for President Biden is there isn’t much he can do in the short term. We know the energy secretary told our colleague Matt Egan last week that all options are on the table and so it remains to be seen what creative solutions they will find, but the options are looking pretty bleak at this point," Solomon said. 

Berman said that this "global problem" will need a "global solution" and that other oil producing countries would need to up their production. "There's no evidence that this is an equilibrium at least when it comes to people at the pump," he concluded. 

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Gas prices hit another record high over Memorial Day weekend, with the average hitting $4.61 per gallon on Sunday. Drivers were paying $3.04 per gallon about a year ago. 

The average price of diesel has decreased slighting and, according to AAA, sits at $5.529 per gallon. 

The White House has blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for increased gas prices. 

"Putin's war is already hurting American families at the gas pump since Putin began his military buildup on Ukrainian borders," Biden said in March. "And with this action, it's going to go up further. I'm going to do everything I can to minimize Putin's price hike here at home and coordination with our partners."