Strategic Reserves: Some Prudent, Some Peculiar

From Seed Banks to Maple Syrup. Really!

You’ve probably heard of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. (1) Late last year, President Biden ordered the release of fifty million barrels of oil. (2)

Says Summers the Cynic: no national emergency was associated with this. Biden acted for purely political purposes — he wanted to curb complaints about sharp increases in gasoline prices by trying to blunt them a little.

Beyond petroleum – an article on strategic reserves in general piqued my interest. (3)

Some surely are prudent: seed banks, pharmaceuticals, fuel, and food, to name four.

Some are, literally, elemental: helium and uranium.

Several are downright peculiar: maple syrup, raisins, butter, and – yes – rubber bullets.

There are others, of course, e.g., gold. (4)

The Congressional Research Service has a short thinkpiece on federal stockpiles. Most prominent is the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS). (5)

I’ll leave you with one of which I’d never heard. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has a Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program for protecting people living in proximity to stockpiles of……..chemical warfare agents. (6)

Says Summers the Cynic: how thoughtful!

Sources:

(1) https://www.energy.gov/fecm/strategic-petroleum-reserve-9

(2) https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/11/23/president-biden-announces-release-from-the-strategic-petroleum-reserve-as-part-of-ongoing-efforts-to-lower-prices-and-address-lack-of-supply-around-the-world/

(3) https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/87144/15-strategic-reserves-unusual-products

(4) https://www.advratings.com/finance/gold-reserves-by-country

(5) https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF11574

(6) https://www.fema.gov/emergency-managers/practitioners/hazardous-response-capabilities/chemical-stockpile

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