Please ignore that AP report we published last week; it’s still President Biden’s fault

Today’s lead editorial, “Standing Up for Domestic Energy,” questions the decision to release oil from the country’s oil reserves. As the first two paragraphs of the editorial describe it, this is President Biden’s fault:

President Joe Biden’s decision to release a million barrels of oil from a federal reserve is more of a frustration than a relief.

Releasing petroleum from reserves is a short-term band-aid that carries real risks. If a crisis or prolonged economic downturn comes, the U.S. may well regret tapping into this supply.

The editorial later labels the decision as “reckless.”

Except that, as the Associated Press reported, this wasn’t Biden decision; it was mandated by Congress:

The move, which the department said is intended to help “lower costs for American families and consumers,″ follows a mandate from Congress to sell off the 10-year-old Northeast reserve and then close it. The language was included in a spending deal Congress approved in March to avert a partial government shutdown.

And this information was not unknown to the editor; this same AP report was published on page 6 of last Wednesday’s Wheeling Intelligencer.

Another day, another Ohio editorial

I would estimate that around 40% of the Wheeling Intelligencer’s editorial are reruns of old editorials from Ogden’s Ohio newspapers. Not surprisingly, most of them are about Ohio and have little to do with West Virginia.

In today’s recycled Ohio editorial, the editorial describes why Ohio drivers should “drive safe in work zones.” The month-old editorial’s message might be stating the obvious to most, but it does cite an alarming statistic about the number of accidents that occur in work zones. Good, but why is this editorial Ohio-specific? (Do West Virginians always slowdown in work zones?) It would have taken ten minutes to change a few words to make this relevant to its West Virginia readership. Hey, but it would have taken ten minutes.

In that vein, I’m looking forward to seeing something similar to the following editorials on the Wheeling Intelligencer editorial page in the upcoming months:

Ohio Drivers: Ohio’s Stop Signs Mean Stop

Seat Belts Save Ohio Lives

Allow Extra Time on Ohio Roads This Memorial Day (Look for this one next month)